College basketball preseason men’s coaches poll sees Clemson unranked

With the start of the 2024-25 college basketball season just days away, the USA TODAY Sports Preseason Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll was released Wednesday.

The Clemson Tigers were ranked outside the Top 25, just as they were with the preseason AP Top 25 poll last week. The Tigers earned eight votes for Top 25 consideration in the coaches poll.

Bill Self’s Kansas Jayhawks were ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll, followed by the Alabama Crimson Tide at No. 2. The two-time defending champion UConn Huskies were ranked third, with the Houston Cougars at No. 4 and Duke Blue. Devils No. 5.

Duke and the No. 10 North Carolina Tar Heels were the only ACC schools to be ranked in the top 25. Behind Duke and UNC, Clemson’s eight votes for consideration were the most of any ACC school outside the Top 25.

The Tigers reached the NCAA Tournament last season as a No. 6 seed and rattled off three straight wins against the No. 11 seed New Mexico Lobos, the No. 3 seed Baylor Bears and the No. 2 Arizona Wildcats to reach the Elite Eight. for the first time since 1980. Clemson fell, 89-82, to Alabama with a trip to the Final Four on the line.

Coach Brad Brownell’s 2024-25 squad returns sixth-year senior guard Chase Hunter and senior forward Ian Schieffelin, the ACC’s Most Improved Player from a season ago.

The Tigers open the season on Monday, Nov. 4 at Littlejohn Coliseum against Charleston Southern. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM ET. The game can be seen on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX).

Abandoned:

no. 13 North Carolina State (26-15); No. 15 Clemson (24-12); No. 18 San Diego State (26-11); no. 20 Utah State (28-7); No. 22 St. Mary’s (26-8); No. 23 South Carolina (26-8); no. 24 Washington State (25-10); No. 25 Texas Tech (23-11)

Others receiving votes:

Texas Tech (23-11) 60; Rutgers (15-17) 57; San Juan (20-13) 42; Xavier (16-18) 26; Michigan State (20-15) 25; Brigham Young (23-11) 16; Oregon (24-12) 16; Kansas State (19-15) 11; Boise State (22-11) 9; St. Mary’s (26-8) 9; Clemson (24-12) 8; Dayton (25-8) 7; Ohio State (22-14) 7; Maryland (16-17) 4; Grand Canyon (30-5) 3; Mississippi State (21-14) 2; Princeton (24-5) 2; San Diego State (26-11) 2; Virginia (23-11) 2; Wake Forest (21-14); Wisconsin (22-14)

The USA TODAY Sports Council of Coaches is comprised of 31 head coaches from Division I institutions. All are members of the National Basketball Coaches Association. 2024-25 Board of Directors: Tobin Anderson, Iona; Adrian Autry, Syracuse; John Becker, Vermont; Randy Bennett, St. Mary’s; Jeff Boals, Ohio; Alvin Brooks, Lamar; Scott Drew, Baylor; Matt Driscoll, North Florida; Dan Earl, Chattanooga; Jonas Hayes, Georgia State; Alan Huss, High Point; Donte’ Jackson, Grambling; Ben Jacobson, Northern Iowa; James Jones, Yale; Greg Kampe, Oakland; Brad Korn, Southeast Missouri State; Greg McDermott, Creighton; Nick McDevitt, Middle Tennessee; Mike McGarvey, Lafayette; Niko Medved, Colorado State; Dan Monson, Eastern Washington; Chris Mooney, Richmond; Nate Oats, Alabama; Eric Olen, UC San Diego; Matt Painter, Purdue; Michael Schwartz, East Carolina; Patrick Sellers, Connecticut Central State; Zach Spiker, Drexel; Brett Tanner, Abilene Christian; Stan Waterman, State of Delaware; Jeff Wulbrun, Denver.

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