Clemson lands last year’s NEC freshman of the year
Having failed in its bid to land Alabama graduate transfer Ricky Tarrant this spring, Clemson missed its best chance to address its lack of perimeter scoring in time for next season.
Instead the Tigers will have to settle for adding a fellow transfer who won’t be eligible to play for them until the 2016-17 season.
Ex-Robert Morris guard Marcquise Reed, last year’s Northeast Conference freshman of the year, announced Monday that he will transfer to Clemson. Reed had also reportedly visited USC, UMass and Tulsa before deciding on the Tigers.
The addition of Reed should eventually help shore up Clemson’s biggest weaknesses — its inability to score efficiently and its lack of perimeter shooting.
The 6-foot-1 Reed averaged 15.1 points per game and shot 41.3 percent from behind the arc for a Robert Morris team that lost to Duke in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. He was at his best against the toughest teams he faced too, lighting up the Blue Devils for 22 points, erupting for 24 against North Carolina and scoring 21 against the very same Clemson team he now will join.
Clemson has lacked many perimeter scorers of that caliber during Brad Brownell’s tenure. For the past four seasons, the Tigers have remained competitive in the rugged ACC because of their formidable half-court defense, but they have finished an average of 211th nationally in points per possession.
Reed will help just like Tarrant would have had he not chosen Memphis. The upside is Clemson gets Reed for up to three seasons. The downside is the Tigers will have to wait a year for him to be eligible to contribute.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
