No one in the Atlantic Coast Conference will missTerrell McIntyre, the diminutive point guard who terrorized opponents as Clemson’s all-time steals leader and second-best scorer. No one outside Clemson will mourn the graduation of Harold Jamison and Tom Wideman, their elbows now the talk of fellow employees in the real world instead of the low post.

And when head coach Larry Shyatt brings his five freshmen and lone returning starter into places like Durham, Chapel Hill and Wake Forest, the fans will be gunning for blowout wins against what looks to be an overmatched team.

“They’ll run over you with a glass-bottom truck and watch you die in this league,” said Shyatt at the recent ACCOperation Basketball meeting in Greensboro.

Even with last year’s senior quartet that included occasional starter Tony Christie, Clemson went 5-11 in the ACC. That’s why, minus that group, the Tigers were picked last in the preseason media poll conducted at the meeting.

In might take a while for the rest of the ACC to figure out the Clemson Tigers.It certainly isn’t happening quickly for Shyatt, who patiently waits for one of his unheralded players to become the next McIntyre.

“There’s humor if you think back to four years ago that we would be worried about replacing a young man who was not even heralded as a top-200 player,”Shyatt said. “But because of that, that excites me. I know that heroes can be found, and we have a couple of guys who are going to be in that role this year.

“If Boogie (McIntyre) can, why can’t you?”Shyatt asked. “We have five or six players that are going to have the ability to step in and create that love affair with our fans. If you’re a young player with our program, there is a fabulous opportunity right now.”

Will Solomon headlines that list. The 6-foot-2 sophomore guard is one of five returning lettermen and averaged nearly 20 minutes a game last season.

Forward Andrius Jurkunas returns to the Clemson frontcourt as the team’s only senior. Shyatt said Solomon, Jurkunas and Adam Allenspach must use their experience over the past season to lead the Tigers. That’s something they’re ready to do.

“I’ve seen guys in practice fill those roles well. Will and Boogie are so similar,”Allenspach said. “I don’t think we’ve lost anything. We’ve just got to show we can do what they did.”

One thing Allenspach and his frontcourt mates will keep going is Clemson’s bulk inside. At 7-1 and 257 pounds, Allenspach makes up a large part of the Tiger team averaging 228 pounds. Four players top 250, including 275-pounder Chucky Gilmore and 260-pounder Arturus Javtokas. At 235 pounds, Jurkunas is a light-weight.

“It gets a little rough inside during practice. Our team’s average weight is 228 and that’s getting up there,”Jurkunas said. “Our size will present a new look. If we’re in a zone (defense) and you look in there at three guys weighing 260, it’s hard to find gaps.”

So while the likes of Carolina and Duke soar, Clemson will plod along.

“We’ve got to find ways to use strength and size as an advantage and hide the weakness in the backcourt,”Shyatt said. “Strength can negate talent, and intellect can negate talent, and attitude, work ethics. There’s some issues that can negate talent, and you better find them and use them to the best of your ability.”

With a strong team in the low post, Clemson’s backcourt must deal with its youth. After Solomon, the only other Tiger player with any experience is Dustin Braddick, a sophomore who played 8.3 minutes per game in his first year with minimal numbers to show for it. They’ll be leading freshmen EdScott, Walker Holt and Pasha Bains.

Those freshmen have a lot to live up to.

“That (recruiting) class of Wideman, Jamison, Christie, McIntyre was not extremely well thought of,”Shyatt said. “The talent usually evaluates what your eyes tell you. Highest jumper, faster runner, most electric. But the guys who are those blue-collar people who just get it done, sometimes wonderful things happen.

“If it’s just who runs faster or jumps higher, we’re probably not as innately blessed as some of these other teams,” Shyatt added. “But that’s what makes evaluators wrong sometimes and that’s what makes predictions wrong sometimes. I hope we take the persona of cornered rats. Cornered rats aren’t fun to be around.”