CLEMSON — Clemson had a landmark season, at least by Clemson’s standards. Now, the Tigers are ready for an extraordinary year that will open everyone’s eyes.

Clemson, at 24-10, took third in the Atlantic Coast Conference, reached the league’s championship game for the first time since 1962 and were back in the NCAA tournament after a decade-long absence.

That may sound good to a campus that thrives on football, but “to most people still that’s nothing,” Tiger guard K.C. Rivers says.

Rivers has been the team’s top scorer the past two seasons and is the senior captain this year. It’s his mission to ensure Clemson’s returnees don’t spend too much time reliving a year ago.

“We really haven’t accomplished much,” Rivers continued.

After all, to Rivers’ way of thinking, the Tigers still wound up behind the ACC’s glamour programs of North Carolina and Duke in the conference; they lost the ACC tournament title to the Tar Heels; and then got bounced from the NCAA tournament quickly with a first-round loss to Villanova.

So Rivers will make sure no one’s strutting around without cause.

“I don’t necessarily think our guys are looking above and beating their chests out, walking around macho,” he said. “And if they are, then they’ve got to get a reality check because that’s not who we are, that’s not what we’ve been about.”

The Tigers built to this the past five seasons under coach Oliver Purnell with a core of gritty, selfless players. To continue the rise, they’ll have to find adequate replacements for guard Cliff Hammonds and forward James Mays.

Hammonds was the team’s best defender and led the Tigers in steals and assists last season.

Mays, the centerpiece of Clemson’s pressure defense, led in rebounds and played much of last season with a fractured, sore wrist.

Purnell will rely on a combination to pick up Hammond’s position. Second-year point guard Demontez Stitt will take more control this season, while long-range shooter Terrence Oglesby has improved his defense during the preseason.

Junior forward Trevor Booker, the Tigers top shot-blocker last year, moves into Mays role. Purnell says Booker will also play more on the outside as a power forward instead of being locked into the middle as he was much of 2007-08.

Purnell says his guys have done a good job going about the business of improving this preseason, although there’ve been moments in camp the Tigers acted like champions instead of chasers.

“This is a high character group, they listen. But they are young men and they are susceptible to the hype. We’ve had to get on them about that,” Purnell said.

Like the day after a solid exhibition performance against Division II USC Aiken last week when the Tigers came to practice thinking “we’ve arrived,” Purnell said.

“I talked to them about it. The next day they came out in practice and had a great day,” the coach said.

The crispness has continued the past week. “I think they smell that gameday has arrived,” Purnell said.

The Tigers open the season at the Charleston Classic, an eight-team tournament that opens the College of Charleston’s new arena. Clemson opens against Hofstra on Friday night in an event that also features Temple, TCU and Western Michigan.

Rivers, Clemson’s only senior in the regular rotation, is prepared to take control of this team from the start with leaders like Hammonds and Mays gone.

“I’ve been waiting in line for three years, finally at the top,” he said. “This is the start to a spectacular season.”

Rivers’ motto this year will be for Clemson to go above and beyond what it did last year.

“We got the championship game to the ACC tournament. We’re going to try and win it this time,” Rivers said. “As well as advance more in the NCAA tournament instead of just being a first-round exit.”

Rivers knows there probably aren’t many outside of campus who think that can happen. Just wait, he says, and see.

“We still got our nucleus back, we still got our force,” he says. “I believe anything’s possible any given night.”

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