The Jennings Challenge

CLEMSON -- Only eight games into his first college basketball season and already Clemson freshman Milton Jennings has been to California, visited Disneyland, played in a 10 a.m. game at Liberty, lost to former high school rival Khris Middleton, helped the Tigers defeat No. 12 Butler and played on a team Wednesday night that blew a 23-point second-half lead on national television.

Pace yourself, kid.

There are still six games left before No. 18 Clemson starts the Atlantic Coast Conference portion of its schedule.

Within the meltdown of a 76-74 Big Ten/ACC Challenge loss to unranked Illinois were more little bits of learning for Jennings, a 6-9 forward from Summerville who reached McDonald's All-American status as a senior at Pinewood Prep.

"We already knew how they would come out in the second half," Jennings said. "We knew they would be challenged by their coach, that they had lost two games in a row. We were told to come out with the same intensity and we just didn't get out on their shooters and they knocked them down."

Someday a few seasons from now, Jennings will look at his statistics from Wednesday night and almost smile: No points, two missed shots and three rebounds in 10 minutes.

He is averaging 4.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game for the Tigers (6-2).

"I've had my up and downs," Jennings said. "I love it more when I'm out there helping and I also love it when I'm on the sideline cheering on my teammates, but so far it's just been a great experience."

'The learning curve'

Jennings, guards Noel Johnson and Donte Hill and forward/center Devin Booker form an exceptionally talented freshman class.

The quartet is in good hands. Head coach Oliver Purnell and his seasoned staff are excellent in that underrated area of college sports known as player development.

"Milton is so naturally talented, especially offensively," said assistant coach Dr. Ron Bradley, in his seventh year at Clemson. "The learning curve for all of our freshmen is defense. We're pretty demanding in our defense. I think sometimes he's trying so hard on defense that he's not as focused on his offense as he needs to be.

"But he's going to be a great player for us."

Florida, Connecticut and UCLA, among many other programs, also offered Jennings a scholarship. But the highest-rated recruit Purnell has signed doesn't act the part.

Jennings frequently nags the coaches with requests for extra work.

Questions include:

"Can we get in the gym?"

"Can we get extra shots?"

"What do we need to work on?"

And the answer to that last one?

"One thing is confidence, believe it or not," Bradley said. "I just don't think his confidence has been there in his shot. He's going to be a (small forward) eventually but he really needs to work on his ball-handling. So those are two things. But No. 1 is defense."

Middleton, again

Khris Middleton, a Porter-Gaud graduate, helped Texas A&M upset Clemson on Nov. 26 in Anaheim, Calif. It was a clash of longtime foes and friends.

"I thought it was just funny," Jennings said. "It was like, 'Are we ever not going to play against each other?' But I enjoyed seeing him. We caught up on some good times."

Jennings scored seven points the next day as Clemson bounced back to defeat Butler, 70-69.

There were more emotional swings Wednesday night, all in one game.

"It was definitely a big learning thing for us," he said. "We understand a big game and how to close it at the end: You have to make those solid plays. You can't foul and stuff. You have to stay in front of your guy."

Another small step for Jennings and his fellow freshmen.

Reach Gene Sapakoff at gsapakoff@postandcourier.com or (843) 937-5593.