CLEMSON, S.C. (FOX Carolina) – College basketball teams have kicked off their summer workouts, including Clemson women’s basketball under new head coach Shawn Poppie.
This summer marks a fresh start for Clemson. The team has eight weeks of workouts available, and while teams nationwide are focused on improvement, the Tigers are also focused on building something new.
Poppie and his staff have brought together six returning Clemson players and ten transfers, all united in their goal of elevating Clemson women’s basketball.
Just one week into the workouts, Poppie and his players already feel the process is well underway in creating a team the Clemson community will be proud of.
“The hardest thing is to just be able to build a sisterhood,” said junior transfer Mia Moore. “But with this team, I feel like it’s going to be really easy because everybody wants the same thing, everybody has the same goal. Everybody wants to change the Clemson women’s basketball name.”
Poppie emphasized that the summer sessions will focus on communication and establishing the team’s new identity, but most importantly, on building a strong team culture.
“This is when you build chemistry and togetherness, and it’s not going to be all great,” said Poppie. “We’re going to get into some strength and conditioning and it’s going to be hard. We can look to our left and right and realize we have each other’s back through the moments so when it does get hard, we have a level of trust built up with one another.”
The Tigers’ workouts are filled with energy, with music playing and hands-on instruction at every hoop. Players praised the energy and camaraderie already present within the team.
Poppie is dedicated to fostering this atmosphere at Clemson.
“We’re coming in as Team 50 right?” Poppie noted. “We’re going to celebrate 50 years of Clemson women’s basketball this year and no better time to start fresh than now, right? We’re going to lean on some of the stories of what Clemson has been in the past but also lay the foundation of what it’s about to become. We have wonderful people in our program that are working hard and are going to represent this program and university to a level that makes us all proud.”
