Flynn Clayman made a name for himself on the national stage after leading the High Point Panthers to a historic upset over the Wisconsin Badgers in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament. It will be tough to follow up on that achievement, but the rising-star head coach looks forward to raising the program's standard.
“We just continue to focus on the process. Like we weren't focused on getting 31 wins last year. We were just focused on having a good practice, having a good workout, having a good drill, having a good film session. Whatever was in front of us at that moment, we were focused on making that great. Reminding our guys the obvious, but it's just human nature that just because we did something last year, it has no effect on this year,” Clayman said in an interview with ClutchPoints.
“In fact, it makes it even harder this year because you have a target on your back, and you have everybody coming for you. And just reminding them also the obvious fact that this team isn't last year's team. Like we don't have the same players. We have some of the same players, but the vast majority of what we had last year is gone, so we're gonna have to do it all over again.”
Flynn Clayman's rise to coaching stardom
Clayman enjoyed a playing career at Colorado and Troy in college from 2007 to 2011. He went on to play professionally in Georgia, Brazil, and Israel before embracing a new chapter of his basketball career by becoming a coach.
Clayman started out as an assistant at Southern Utah in 2017, earning promotions to different roles throughout his time there. He even was an interim coach for three games, going 2-1 as he led the program to the CBI semifinals in 2023.
Clayman moved on from Southern Utah as he became an associate coach with High Point. He served at the role for two seasons before earning the promotion to head coach as his first full-time head coaching job on April 11, 2025.
High Point was coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2025, falling in the first round. Alan Huss, the previous coach, departed for the Creighton Blue Jays, paving the way for Clayman to embrace the reins. Even with the experience and lessons he got over the years, he admitted that it's hard to be fully ready for what was in store for Year 1.
“You make a ton of decisions, and you hope you're making the right ones when you're building a roster and building a staff. Obviously, I got kind of lucky with making those right decisions. The pieces of the puzzle came together. That doesn't guarantee it will always come together like that, especially when you're building a new team every season. My former bosses, Coach [Alan] Huss, Coach [Todd] Simon; those guys prepared me a ton. The coaches that I played for all taught me something along the way. I played for a lot of great ones, and this university just prepared me because they have such a good setup and were able to put a good product out there on the floor in Year 1,” Clayman said.
Clayman's first full campaign was a remarkable success, going 31-5 throughout the 2025-26 season. They went 30-4 in the regular season, winning both the Big South regular-season title and the conference tournament title. They automatically qualified for the NCAA Tournament with the latter title, setting up a date with Wisconsin in the first round.
High Point stood out as an underdog against Wisconsin, which boasted serious talents like Nick Boyd and John Blackwell. They also had the potential of making a deep tournament run, which is why the basketball world expressed shock at the results.
The Panthers stunned many by beating Wisconsin 83-82 in the first round of the tournament. It was clear that High Point punched above its weight to pull off the upset, but Clayman asserted that the team didn't have as much pressure going into it as they did throughout the regular season.
“We were favored in every game we played last season up until the NCAA Tournament, and we were very much expected to get back to the NCAA Tournament, so that was a lot of pressure to begin with. And then, once we got to the NCAA Tournament, I felt like we played really well because that was the first time all year we didn't have a ton of pressure on us, and we didn't have a ton of expectations on us. So I thought we were a really good team all year with expectations, and then when that kind of went away, we took it to a whole ‘nother level, and that's what we were able to do-not just against Wisconsin, but [against] Arkansas in that second game too,” Clayman said.
Clayman already experienced March Madness at High Point in 2025 when Huss was the head coach. However, the 2026 tournament run was different as he described it as a “whirlwind” with how the Panthers got their first win in an NCAA Tournament game and competed well against Arkansas in the second round before bowing out with their heads held high. It taught him valuable lessons on how success of that magnitude can forever change the trajectory of a program.
“What I learned is just the power of how a good sports team can affect a university and a community. It was just great to see. We had 400 students that we chartered to our game, and then what that led to was just nonstop campus tours and a lot of more people interested in being students at High Point, and because they just got to see how much fun our students have being a student here. So just the power of the NCAA tournament versus you can win big regular-season games, but when you win in that tournament, I mean, it's just the hype and the attention is at a level that you won't really understand unless you've experienced it,” Clayman said.
Clayman's 2026-27 season expectations after NCAA Tourney run
Flynn Clayman has a big season waiting for him in Year 2. He is well aware of the high expectations High Point has this campaign, once again being a contender for the Big South title.
While the Panthers have been successful in retaining some talents, they saw some players leave throughout the offseason. Chase Johnston, who became a hero in program history with his game-winning layup against Wisconsin, maximized his collegiate eligibility. Rob Martin, the team's leading scorer with 16 points per game, also maxed out his eligibility. Meanwhile, Terry Anderson, who joined Martin with 16 points per contest as well, is currently active in the professional level with the Rip City Remix, an NBA G League affiliate of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Clayman got busy with revamping the roster this past offseason, looking all over the mid-major level for his acquisitions. He landed CJ Brown from the South Florida Bulls, Frankquon Sherman from the Kennesaw State Owls, Isaac Garrett from the Oakland Golden Grizzlies, and Curtis Williams from the Tulane Green Wave. The head coach was bright about their potential on the team, alongside having Cam'Ron Fletcher, Conrad Martinez, and Braden Hausen back for another season.
“Cam'Ron Fletcher, Conrad Martinez, Braden Hausen. They've looked great. They've all gotten better. A ton of new guys that have looked great. I mean, I'll just give a couple like CJ Brown from South Florida, starting point guard for them. Frankquon Sherman, leading rebounder of Conference USA, champion at Kennesaw State, Isaac Garrett from Oakland, Curtis Williams from Tulane. These are just a few, and others have just been fantastic. I love our depth. We might have a little more depth even this year than we had last year,” Clayman said.
Article Continues BelowHigh Point amazed basketball fans with its explosive attack last season. They boasted a top-three offense in the country, averaging a whopping 89.7 points per game. Three players scored in double figures throughout the campaign, including Fletcher. He averaged 13.2 points while adding 7.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals per contest.
Like last season, High Point has big expectations once again. The Big South Preseason poll projects them to win the conference. It also named Fletcher as the Preseason Player of the Year while sending Jason Rivera Torres, Brown and Garrett to the preseason All-Conference teams. Clayman looks forward to putting it all together on the court, even noting big strengths this squad has over last season's team.
“We have more length and size just across the board, and we were a nice defensive team last year, and we forced a lot of turnovers. We were first in the country in steals. I think we're going to have a chance to be a little bit better defense in terms of just our ability to affect shots, our ability to switch everything better, and then our ability to rebound better. We have more size across the board, which excites me a ton,” Clayman said.
“I think we arguably could be a better shooting team, even though Chase Johnston's not here, like we don't have one shooter who's just crazy insane like he was at training it. But I think across the board, when we talk about Curtis [Williams], and then Braden's improved his shooting, Cam'Ron improved his shooting. Jason Rivera Torres, who has been injured, but he'll be back this season, is a fantastic shooter and All-Conference talent as well. So I like our shooting as well with our size and rebounding.”
Clayman is fully aware of the targets that opponents will place on High Point's backs. After being one of the Cinderella stories during the NCAA Tournament, the head coach is having this squad be ready for all scenarios that teams throw at them throughout the 2026-27 season.
“That goes back to just the day-to-day, rep-to-rep, drill-to-drill, attention to detail, focusing on what we can control, and when we do have a bad drill or a bad practice. That's when I have to remind them, ‘Hey, everybody's going to be ready to go when they play us.’ That's not going to be something new for our program at all; that's something that we felt the last few years. But I would imagine that this season coming up, just with the national exposure of the NCAA tournament, that would be heightened even more than we've experienced in the past. So we'll be ready,” Clayman affirmed.
The Panthers will get their campaign underway on the road. They prepare for a quality mid-major clash with the Liberty Flames as tip-off starts on Nov. 2 at midnight.