CLEMSON — Clemson basketball‘s regular season was magical, but its run in the NCAA Tournament was a nightmare.
The fifth-seeded Tigers were upset by No. 12 McNeese State in the first round of March Madness, losing 69-67. Despite setting program records for total and ACC wins, they were embarrassed in the tournament to suffer an early exit.
Now, Clemson will have to address losing star players, including guard Chase Hunter, forward Ian Schieffelin and center Viktor Lakhin because of expiring eligibility. The Tigers may also lose guard Jaeden Zackery. These departures mean forward Chauncey Wiggins and guard Dillon Hunter will headline next season’s team along with whoever the Tigers might pick up in the transfer portal.
Clemson coach Brad Brownell, who is in talks for a contract extension, will have plenty of inexperienced freshmen and sophomores. Clemson will likely add transfers to supplement the loss of its crucial contributors too.
Here are the players who are leaving and returning for the Tigers’ 2025-26 season with the transfer portal opening Monday:
Will Jaeden Zackery return for Clemson in 2025-26?
Zackery, who transferred to Clemson from Boston College, was a brilliant addition for the Tigers. He averaged a career-high 11.7 points and 2.1 steals to make the ACC’s all-defensive team.
Zackery played five college seasons, including his three seasons with the Eagles (2021-22 through 2023-24) and one at Chipola College, a junior college program (2020-21). His potential for another season comes from recent rulings regarding Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, who sued the NCAA in federal court to try to get back a final year of eligibility.
Pavia received a court ruling granting him an extra year of eligibility because a judge stated that the NCAA’s rules counting junior college eligibility against Division I eligibility violated antitrust law. The NCAA is appealing the decision, but it issued a waiver allowing some players who would be in their last year of eligibility and had spent time at a junior college to play an extra year. However, a new ruling this month stated athletes who played in junior college during their COVID year in 2020-21 won’t be eligible for a waiver.
Zackery said he and Clemson’s staff are looking into whether he can play his fifth season at the NCAA level. He added he wants to test the pro waters, similar to what PJ Hall and Chase Hunter did, before deciding if he will return. If Zackery comes back, he will fill a massive need at guard for the Tigers.
Clemson basketball roster expected departures
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Chase Hunter
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Ian Schieffelin
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Viktor Lakhin
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Myles Foster
Hunter will pursue his NBA dreams after spending six seasons with Clemson. He led the Tigers in scoring last season with 16.5 points. Schieffelin’s Clemson career is over too after four seasons of being the team’s energizer and hustle player.
Lakhin, who transferred from Cincinnati last season, led Clemson in blocked shots. Foster transferred from Illinois State in his final season and was a reserve player.
MORE: How Clemson basketball proved unready for March Madness in upset loss to McNeese State
Clemson basketball roster 2025-26 expected returnees
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Chauncey Wiggins
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Dillon Hunter
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Del Jones
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Jake Heidbreder
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Christian Reeves
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Asa Thomas
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Ace Buckner
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Dallas Thomas
Wiggins and Dillon Hunter will be the leaders of next season’s team in their senior seasons if Zackery doesn’t return. A larger workload could be in line for Reeves, who performed well at center in his few minutes in the final games of the season.
Heidbreder, Clemson’s 3-point specialist, could move into the starting lineup to provide deep scoring. Jones will have another year of experience after an up-and-down freshman season. Buckner and Thomas, who both redshirted as freshman, could be primed for a minutes boom next season.
Thomas could be in line for a bigger bench role after appearing in 12 games last season.
Clemson basketball transfer portal options
Clemson will potentially lose 70% of its scoring, which will force Brownell to add portal players. Since Clemson has struggled to land elite high school talent, unlike other ACC teams, he has attracted seasoned college players through the portal.
Brownell achieved this with Zackery and Lakhin last season after landing forward Jack Clark and guard Joseph Girard III in 2023-24. Expect this to happen again this offseason to replace Chase Hunter, Schieffelin, Lakhin and potentially Zackery.
Some of Clemson’s portal needs include a forward, shot creators, defenders, athleticism, 3-point shooting and rebounding.
Clemson basketball signees in 2025 class
In the upcoming cycle, Clemson signed one four-star recruit — guard Zac Foster — and two three-stars — forwards Chase Thompson and Trent Steinour. Its class ranks 25th overall (seventh in the ACC), according to 247Sports Composite rankings.
Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson basketball 2025-26 roster: How Tigers will look next season
