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-- Fans are going to need to be patient with Chase Hunter.

Hunter, as we told you earlier today on The West Zone message board, is back practicing after missing 5-6 weeks with a broken finger.

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It's been a difficult and frustrating series of starts and stops for Hunter since he arrived at Clemson last year as a freshman.

A foot injury early last season limited him to just nine games played and four starts.

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And now he's trying to get back into playing shape, as he returned last week and this past Monday was his first practice full-go.

When Hunter signed with Clemson, coaches viewed him as a Marcquise Reed type who would eventually be able to put the team on his shoulders and come up with a basket during clutch situations.

The injuries have most certainly put a kink into that trajectory, as did the lengthy COVID-related delay of practices over the summer.

But in addition to that, the coaches are trying to cultivate a harder edge in Hunter that makes him less deferential and more embracing of the assassin-like mentality Reed showed off during his time here.

Brad Brownell thinks Hunter will be a dynamic player when he's fully healthy. But he's taking things slowly right now.

"He'll be ready to go when we get down to Florida," Brownell said of the Space Coast Challenge game against Mississippi State that's less than two weeks away.

"But we have to be patient."

-- Most encouraging under-the-radar theme of this offseason: The competition at point guard.

The coaches absolutely love what they have seen in practice as Al-Amir Dawes and Nick Honor battle it out seemingly every minute of every day.

There were times last year when Brownell had to tell Dawes he was it in games because there was no one else to insert at point guard. That produced some highly visible growing pains early, but by the end of the year it paid off when Dawes made some big, fearless plays with the ball in his hands.

Now Honor is eligible and hungry and giving Dawes everything he can handle. And the best part: It's good-natured cutthroat competition that both combatants understand will make them better, and the team better.

We wouldn't be surprised at all if the breakdown in minutes is as even as, say, Dawes playing 22 minutes a game and Honor playing 18 -- or maybe even a thinner margin.

The pace of the offense is going to be faster because of these two, and the coaches are also excited about the prospect of keeping the heat on teams defensively by making it more of a full-court game.

-- Aamir Simms came back for the right reasons.

Once upon a time, Jaron Blossomgame returned for his senior year and it was more about his personal goals of making himself a better NBA prospect.

No doubt Simms is trying to boost his NBA stock, but there's also no doubt he's fully invested in the team so far. That's not an easy balance to strike.

We've heard numerous raves about his zest for making his teammates better. He's serving as a mentor for the younger guys, showing exceptional work ethic, and is playing as hard as anybody during practice.

"We've had a couple of guys before who have come back and not been as hungry," Brownell said, not naming names.

"I don't sense that at all from Aamir."

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