Episode Details

WVU Basketball: Preview of West Virginia’s Matchup with Clemson in Charleston Classic

Ross Hodge’s West Virginia Mountaineers will play 2 games this weekend as part of the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic in South Carolina. They will be a part of a 4-team bracket that includes Clemson, Georgia, and Xavier, with opening games held on Friday evening and the 1st-place and 3rd-place games held on Sunday afternoon. Let’s get familiar with the Clemson Tigers in this opponent preview.

Clemson

The Clemson Tigers roster features a collection of several transfer portal pickups and freshmen under head coach Brad Brownell, who is in his 16th season at Clemson. The two on-court leaders of last year’s team, Chase Hunter and Ian Schieffelin, ran out of eligibility after helping Clemson reach consecutive NCAA Tournaments, including an Elite 8 run in 2024. The 5th-seeded Tigers were beaten by McNeese State in the Round of 64 in 2025. In the preseason poll for the 2025-26 season, the Tigers were picked to finish 7th in the 18-team ACC that will collectively be looking to bounce back from a less-than-stellar showing as a conference last season.

Clemson is off to a 4-1 start this season, with their lone loss coming on the road against Georgetown in a 79-74 game that the Tigers led at halftime. They have blowout wins over New Hampshire, Gardner-Webb, Morehead State, and North Alabama. 

So far this season, the Tigers have displayed a rather impressive, balanced scoring attack offensively. Remarkably, they have 8 players averaging between 11.4 and 6.6 points per game. You would be hard-pressed to find a more well-rounded offensive attack this season than that of the Clemson Tigers thus far. Defensively, they are allowing just 58.6 points per game, while the Mountaineers rank 4th nationally, allowing just 54.8 points per contest.

Names to Know

Carter Welling is a 6’10 junior transfer from Utah Valley who averaged over 13 points per game last season. As a Tiger thus far, he is averaging over 11 points and 6 rebounds. Utah transfer Jake Wahlin is shooting 47.6% from 3-point territory this season. The 6’10 junior is averaging close to 10 points and 5 rebounds per game.6’8 senior, RJ Godfrey, is back with the Tigers after spending last season with the Georgia Bulldogs (who are also in this 4-team tournament). Godfrey is averaging 10.8 points and 6.6 rebounds. Freshman Ace Buckner is having an early impact with the Tigers, averaging 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists. 

When & Where to Watch 

Friday’s action will tip-off with West Virginia and Clemson at 6:30PM ET, with the Georgia/Xavier matchup set to follow; both games can be found on ESPNU. Sunday’s championship game is set for 1PM ET and the 3rd-place game to follow, both of which are airing on ESPN.