Clemson Off-Season Basketball Homework: Ian Schieffelin (2024)

Welcome to the Basketball Off-Season!

That’s right, folks, there is a basketball off-season. As many of you know, I also write for and co-manage Purdue’s SB Nation site. Purdue folks treat basketball like Clemson folks treat football. I bring a Clemson football mentality to Purdue football on Hammer and Rails, and I’m going to try to bring a Purdue basketball mentality to Clemson basketball on STS this off-season (plus, I hurt my back in a car accident and am super, super bored).

The Tigers are coming off one of their best seasons in program history, and Brad Brownell is putting together an arguably better roster for the ‘24-’25 season. This series of articles takes a look at the improvements individual players can make to help push the team forward in the ‘24-’25 season.

Stick around to the end of the article and check out some sweet Clemson gear from our new friends at FOCO Apparel.

Ian Schieffelin Off-Season Homework

Last season, Ian “The Chef” Schieffelin was the ultimate glue guy. While PJ Hall was the front-court star, The Chef was in the trenches doing the dirty work on the glass. The 6’8”, 240-pounder from Loganville, Georgia, and Grayson High School put the “power” back in “power forward.” His 12.2 offensive rebounding percentage was good for 84th in the country, and his defensive rebounding percentage of 26.5 was good for 26th. Needless to say, he was Clemson’s best rebounder by a wide margin.

For Clemson to reach their full potential, The Chef needs to transition from one of the best sidekicks in college basketball to a star.

Assignment 1: Hit the Gym

6'8”, 240 is good, but a shredded 6’8”, 250 would be even better. The Chef’s known for flashing his guns after dominating an opponent on the boards, now it’s time to build those guns up. He’s transitioning from “glue guy” to “the guy” in the Clemson front court, and that comes with more attention on the glass from the opponent. Clemson added Duke transfer Christian Reeves and Cincinnati transfer Viktor Lakhin at center, but neither bring rebounding like The Chef.

Last season he was on the court for 68% of Clemson’s minutes. I expect that number to jump up to at least 75% of Clemson’s minutes this season. Some extra time in the gym over the off-season should give Schieffelin the strength and stamina he needs to fight it out under the basket with the best the ACC has to offer.

Next Up: Channel Your Inner Custodian

I’m going to date myself with this reference, and a bunch of you probably won’t get it, but Clemson needs Ian Schieffelin to do his best Brian Cardinal (aka The Custodian, aka The Janitor, aka Citizen Pain) impersonation.

For those of you unfamiliar with Brian’s work, the 6’8”, 240 forward played for Purdue in the late 90’s. He started his career as a grinder, often collecting more floor burns than points. He finished his career as the leading scorer on an Elite 8 quad and a second round NBA draft pick. He would go on to play 12 seasons in the NBA, picking up a ring in Dallas before calling it a career and eventually heading back to West Lafayette to serve in an administrative role for Matt Painter and the Boilermakers.

That's the growth I want to see from Chef his off-season. PJ was the undisputed on-court leader last season. Ian needs to grow into that role. It’s easy to get into the “I’m a glue guy” mentality, but like Cardinal did at Purdue, he needs to become “the guy” for Clemson next season.

The Chef has the smooth inside / out game on offense, and throws his body around on defense. All that’s missing is the confidence to lead the way. If he finds that confidence, Clemson will be in good shape moving forward.

Finally: Fire Away!

This is tied to the above assignment, and it goes back to confidence. I want Chef firing away in the open gym this off-season. He shot an absurd 47% from 3 last year, but only attempted 1.4 a game. Can he double his attempts without losing his accuracy (probably not, but if he could keep it around 40% it would be amazing)?

His stroke from the outside looks great. He could get it off a hair quicker, but at 6’8” not many defenders are going to bother his release. Look for Brad Brownell to plug The Chef into the sets he used to get PJ outside shots last season. Pair him with returning wing sharp shooter Chauncy Wiggins and Clemson suddenly has one of the best shooting front-courts in the nation....if Ian decides to let it go on a more regular basis.

In Conclusion

Ian needs to transition from “one of the guys” to “the guy” in 2025 without losing the edge that made him the ultimate glue guy in 2024. If that happens, and I have no reason to believe it won’t, we could be in for another fun ride next season.

See you next week when I hand out a few assignments for Chase Hunter.

Now a Word From Our Sponsor

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