CLEMSON — Clemson basketball coach Brad Brownell faced mounting pressure from fans and athletic director Graham Neff to make the NCAA Tournament after missing March Madness in back-to-back seasons.

The 14-year Tigers coach, who has the most wins in Clemson's men's basketball history, entered this season with a 241-177 record but only three NCAA Tournament appearances and no ACC regular season and tournament championships

After missing March Madness last season despite finishing in third place in the ACC, Clemson (23-11) broke through this season, making the tournament as a No. 6 seed and advancing to the Sweet 16 for the fifth time.

"For four years, I've had to listen to people hate on (Brownell)," PJ Hall said. "They don't understand how incredible he is behind doors, how genius he is and a blessing he is to be at Clemson."

Brownell retooled the Tigers' roster, bringing in transfers Joseph Girard III and Jack Clark to complement Hall, Chase Hunter and Ian Schieffelin. The additions helped them begin the season with an 11-1 record, defeating Boise State, TCU, South Carolina and Alabama — who all made the tournament.

Clemson stumbled in ACC play, beginning with a 4-6 record. Still, the Tigers responded to finish with an 11-9 record, tying for fifth in the conference standings.

Brownell detractors reached their peak when Clemson suffered its worst loss of the season in the ACC Tournament second round, losing 76-55 to Boston College. It continued the team's trend of not winning two games in the conference tournament under Brownell.

Yet, the Tigers rebounded in the NCAA Tournament by routing No. 11 seed New Mexico Friday, then taking care of No. 3 seed Baylor Sunday to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2018.

Brownell is the first men's basketball coach in Clemson's history to make two Sweet 16 appearances.

"All those 'fire Brownell' guys can kiss it," Joseph Girard III said. "He's done an unbelievable job here, he's built this program for 14 years, (and) he's been in the league for so long. You don't get that every day and everywhere."

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It takes time for anything to blossom. There was a six-year drought of not reaching the NCAA Tournament under Brownell after making it in his inaugural season in 2010-11, but his program came together in 2017, making March Madness in three of the last seven years.

Another thing is clear: Brownell's players adore him, and they want to win for him to prove he is one of the all-time coaches in Clemson athletics.

"Everybody needs to know coach Brownell is arguably the best coach to come through Clemson, in terms of X's and O's, and we're trying to prove that right now," Hall said.

There has only been one Tigers team to reach the Elite Eight, which happened in 1980 when Clemson made its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. This year's team will try to join that inaugural team by beating No. 2 seed Arizona Thursday at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles (7:09 p.m. ET, CBS).

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 Sweet 16 run shows Tigers' faith in Brad Brownell