Brad Brownell is in his 14th season in charge of the now undefeated 9-0 Clemson men’s basketball program. The Evansville, Ind., native was named the 22nd men’s basketball coach at Clemson University on April 13, 2010.
In 13 seasons in Clemson, he has compiled a 241-177 record, which places him first all-time in Clemson coaching history with 241 victories. He has taken the Tigers to the 2021 NCAA Tournament, 2018 Sweet 16, 2011 NCAA Tournament and three NIT appearances. He is No. 1 in Clemson coaching history in terms of winning percentage against ACC competition and his 103 regular season wins over ACC teams are the most-ever in program history.
Brownell enters his 22nd season overall with a career record of 408-262. The 2022-23 Tigers won 23 games and a record 14 games in the ACC, which marked a program record for conference wins in any league.
Prior to Clemson, in his two previous head coaching stops, Brownell took the program to a school record number of wins as a Division I member. He had a 25-win season at UNC Wilmington in 2005-06 and a 23-win season at Wright State in 2006-07. He has had 25-win and 23-win seasons at Clemson.
Brownell guided UNC Wilmington to the NCAA Tournament in 2003 and 2006 and Wright State to the NCAAs in 2007.
Brownell’s 2007 NCAA Tournament appearance at Wright State was the school’s first in 14 seasons. He did it behind the strength of a 15-3 conference record and two wins in the conference tourney.
Brownell was the head coach at UNC Wilmington from 2002-03 through the 2005-06 season and posted an 83-40 record, including a 52-20 mark against conference teams. In his four years at Wright State he posted a 55-24 record against conference foes (including conference tournament games).
Brownell was named CAA Coach of the Year in 2002-03 and 2005-06 and the Horizon League Coach of the Year in 2007-08. Additionally, Brownell was one of 15 finalists for the Hugh Durham Coach of the Year Award for mid-major programs in 2007 and was the NABC District 10 Coach of the Year. FoxSports.com also named him the Mid-Major Coach of the Year in 2006, his final year at UNC Wilmington.
Brownell began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Evansville under Jim Crews in 1991-92 and he helped that program to a 24-6 record. He served as an assistant at the University of Indianapolis in 1992-93 and 1993-94.
He then started a 12-year-run at UNC Wilmington, eight as an assistant or associate head coach, and four as the head coach. He was an assistant for the Seahawks from 1994-95 through 2001-02. His final year as an assistant under Jerry Wainwright, UNC Wilmington posted a 23-10 record, including a 17-4 mark versus conference teams (including the CAA Tournament). That team defeated Southern California in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in overtime.
UNC Wilmington posted a 25-8 mark his final season, 2005-06, including a victory over Final Four participant George Mason, and won the CAA Tournament. The Seahawks lost in overtime to George Washington, 88-85, in the NCAA Tournament that year.
Brownell earned three letters at DePauw University, a Division III school in Greencastle, Ind. He ranks seventh in school history with 332 career assists. He led the Tigers in assists three straight seasons, while also leading DePauw in steals as a junior in 1989-90.
Brownell earned his bachelor’s degree from DePauw in 1991 and completed his master’s degree at the University of Indianapolis in 1994. He is a graduate of Harrison High School in Evansville, where he was a high school teammate of Calbert Cheaney, who later became the National Player of the Year in 1993 at Indiana.
Brownell and his wife, Paula, have two daughters, Abby, and Kate, who are both graduates of Clemson.
