Clemson guard and Alpharetta product Jaron Blossomgame played his final ACC game for the Tigers Wednesday, one step closer to the end of a fine career.
After the Tigers lost 79-72 to Duke in a second-round game at the ACC tournament at the Barclays Center, Blossomgame spoke of his affection for Clemson and the safety of the municipality.
“Just the people,” Blossomgame said. “Everybody’s very nice. I can go out at night and leave my car unlocked and be confident that everything’s going to be O.K. Everybody loves each other.”
Coming out of Chattahoochee High, Blossomgame was a worthy adversary for Georgia Tech over his four seasons. In his final seven games against the Yellow Jackets, he scored 10, 19, 17, 22, 22, 20 and 10 points. A teammate of Tech great Marcus Georges-Hunt on the Georgia Stars AAU team, Blossomgame overcame a compound leg fracture suffered in his senior year of high school that required him to sit out his first season at Clemson.
As a junior, Blossomgame was named first-team All-ACC and the league’s most improved player. He declared for the draft without signing an agent before deciding to return for his final season.
“There’s a few things I wanted to come back and work on and improve,” he said. “I wanted one more year. I didn’t want to give up my last year of college, my last experience at Clemson. The NBA will be there next year after the season.”
Smooth and long, the 6-foot-7 Blossomgame averaged 17.5 points per game this season with 6.2 rebounds. He was named third-team All-ACC. He is in the top 10 in school history in career points and rebounds. He will leave with a sociology degree, earned last summer.
Clemson is likely to receive an NIT bid for the second time in his career. He’ll leave Clemson without having played in an NCAA tournament.
“It happens to a lot of players,” Blossomgame said. “It happens.”
The website draftexpress.com slots him as the No. 31 overall pick.
“Overall, looking at my career, I feel pretty good about it,” he said.
