CLEMSON -- Over the summer, Hunter Tyson would arrive for the team's morning weightlifting sessions more than an hour before they were scheduled to start.
More like a coach than a player, he'd show up and make himself some oatmeal and coffee.
"He eats his oatmeal and drinks his cup of coffee like a grown-up and then goes in and changes, gets himself warmed up and then goes and lifts," Brad Brownell said.
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"What does a freshman do? He shows up 15 minutes before he's supposed to be here, changes his clothes and then goes into the weight room."
From the outside, the story about this team was supposed to be about PJ Hall. That's just natural when Hall's galvanizing presence was one of the major reasons AD Graham Neff decided to stick with Brownell for a 13th season.
But as this team continues to blossom in ways that simply were not envisioned by anyone outside of the basketball program, it's becoming more and more clear that this team has not just one but two franchise-type personalities.
And when you have two, suddenly high achievement doesn't seem so far away.
Hall was that dude late last season, fighting through immense pain to lift everyone else.
Tyson has been that dude thus far through Clemson's 6-0 start, simply rising above everyone else and showing that he's the thrust and the pulse of this team.
"In huddles his voice is the loudest," Brownell said. "He's just a mature player. I mean it's a privilege to coach young people like that. Because he's really not like a young person. He's a grown-up. I mean he's a man. He acts like it in how he plays, he acts like it in how he practices, he acts like it in how he approaches practice."
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It hasn't been easy for Hall as he's continued the ups and downs of returning from two surgeries and zero offseason work on the basketball court.
There are moments when he looks like he's truly back, such as the eye-opening reverse layup he completed off his left foot in the first half at Pittsburgh.
But then there are times when Hall looks like he's rushing things on the offensive end, or overly aggressive on the defensive end and drawing a foul because he's late on a rotation.
In his last four games Hall is 13-of-35 from the field. That's fully explainable and understandable, because all along this was going to be a long and trying road back for him.
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But if you were told earlier this season that'd be his clip over four ACC games, you'd probably have not been optimistic about Clemson's chances of winning any of them.
And that's where Tyson comes in. He has recorded double-doubles in five consecutive games, the longest streak by a Clemson player in nearly 30 years (Sharone Wright had five in a row in 1993). The record is nine in a row by Tree Rollins.
Wednesday against Louisville, trying to limit Tyson was the chief focus of Cards coach Kenny Payne. Tyson had 28 points on 9-of-14 shooting while going 4-of-7 on 3-pointers, and pulled down 11 boards.
"Amazing we target him and he gets 28 and 11," Payne said. "He plays hard, he's skilled, he passes the ball, he's not selfish. He lets the game come to him, and he's efficient. Hell of a player. Hell of a player."
Tyson's full impact is not realized on a statistics sheet. It's not even properly absorbed in a press conference, when he quickly defers and praises others when asked about his own transcendent game.
You have to watch a game and feel him. Such as early against Louisville when he grabbed a rebound near the rim and scored on a baby hook while being fouled.
His demonstrative, fiery reaction immediately thereafter spoke its own language, and spoke volumes:
This is my game. My team. My building. My time.
And it's been a long time coming.
Two years ago, Tyson suffered a broken face (yes, face) when he took a knee to it against Alabama.
Last year he suffered a broken collarbone against Florida State but took only a month to get back after surgery. And beyond that he spent an extended period playing on two injured ankles, and through pain so severe that he needed crutches at one point.
So when Neff made his decision to roll with Brownell, it was about more than just Hall and all the promise he brought. It was also about Tyson, who came back in large part to go through a season injury-free.
This is what Hall said of Tyson's impact after the latter announced his return:
"The mental toughness, the physical toughness, the determination, everything. It's literally the full package. He's a great player and also a great teammate. Whether they are 6 AM or late practices, he's always the loudest one in the gym. He's making sure they're doing their thing."
Clemson's recent rise is not attributed to just one thing.
But it's hard to get away from the idea that Tyson's presence is the biggest thing.
He's a man.
And a man in full.
"We talk to our kids a lot about there's an approach to being a good player," Brownell said. "There's no accident. Like, there's an approach. Even good players on our team like PJ need to develop more of an approach, right? Like there's just a maturity and an approach of how you go about your business every day, your habits. And then when you do those things well, it leads to good play. You expect to play well.
"I think he's reaping the benefit of all that."
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