Preview: Augusta men head to Clemson for hoops exhibition game
Justin Gray | Sports editor
Augusta University’s men’s basketball team will take the 107-mile trek up to Clemson for an exhibition game with the Tigers at Littlejohn Coliseum.
This will be one of, if not, the biggest test the Jaguars have ever faced in an exhibition because of the state of the Clemson basketball program.
The Tigers are coming off of their first Elite Eight appearance since 1980 and are picked to finish fourth in the ACC this season.
“All I know is that I saw Clemson was picked to finish fourth in the ACC,” said Coach Dip Metress. “Obviously, I know their personnel a little bit, but I didn’t realize they were expected to be that good, to be honest.”
Physically, this is a great matchup to prepare the Jaguars for the regular season because they won’t face another opponent of this caliber.
“It’s going to be a challenge, there's no secret there, but it will give us a good measuring stick, and show us how we will respond to adversity,” said Metress, who’s entering his 21st year as the Head Coach at AU.
Augusta should be an improved team from a season ago where they finished 17-12, losing to Flagler in the first round of the Peach Belt Conference tournament.
Coach Metress brought in size and physicality to be better defensively than the team was last year.
The Jaguars will be led by junior guard Demitri Gardner and senior center Maximillain Amadasun.
Gardner led the team in scoring with 17.5 points per game and he shot 46 percent from the field, good enough to get him second-team all conference.
Amadasun averaged a double-double with 13.2 points per game and 10 rebounds per game. He will be one of the top centers in the conference this season. He will also add valuable experience in this exhibition as he transferred in from NCAA Division I Pittsburgh University and St. Bonaventure, where he didn’t play much, but got to experience those environments.
These two teams have matched up twice in the regular season with Clemson winning by 46 (1987) and 27 (1984). They have also played several times in scrimmages, but the score is not recorded, so we don’t have the exact amount of games played.
If there is anyone who’s shown they can defeat Division I programs, it’s Metress as his team took down Georgia Southern last year in an exhibition 82-77, and back in 2018 the Jaguars traveled to Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C., and beat the University of South Carolina, 77-72.
It will be interesting to see if the Jaguars can tap into some of that magic and make things interesting on Wednesday, Oct. 30.
The game begins at 7 p.m., and admission is free so take the quick drive up and support the Jaguars in their first time taking the floor in the 2024-25 season.
The Jaguars will host Emory in exhibition on Saturday, Nov. 2, 30 minutes after the completion of the volleyball match between AU and USC Aiken, which will start a 3 p.m.
Contact Justin Gray at jusgray@augusta.edu.
Demitri Gardner, going up for a bucket here, was the Jaguars’ leading scorer last season. At the top of the page, Max Amadasun played for Division I Pitt and St. Bonaventure, so he knows the level of competition AU will be facing at Clemson. (photos by Paula Toole/AU Athletics)
