Rachael Rose update: Clemson’s Shawn Poppie says she’s fully healthy

Clemson women’s basketball landed one of the nation’s top mid-major players this offseason in Wofford transfer Rachael Rose. The 5-7 guard averaged 22.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.1 steals per game during the 2023-24 season. 

She got off to a strong start last year before a leg injury sidelined her for most of the season. Now, Rose is back at full health and ready for her first season at the high-major level. 

“She’s all the way back healthy,” Poppie told On3. “She practiced with us the last three weeks of summer. It is exciting for us, because it was a little bit of a gamble coming off a hip surgery and not really sure what that was going to look like, but she is all the way full go.”

Rose is expected to make an impact from the jump for this Tigers team that finished T-12 in the ACC last year. Her exact role, though, is still being defined.

“I think we’re still trying to figure it out,” Poppie said. “Is she the 1, the 2? I think she’s going to find ways to play for us, because she’s tough and her legs have got back underneath her. She’s shot the ball to the level we thought we were getting. You think about, really, the last year she was healthy, she was one of four players in the country to have the numbers [she did].”

If Rose slots off the ball, Clemson has another option at point guard in returner Mia Moore. The 5-6 guard averaged 10.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game last season and could take over primary ball-handling duties following Loyal McQueen’s graduation.

But Poppie noted that there’s another option for the way this team may play. 

“We have multiple guards that could do multiple things,” Poppie said. “So I’m not sold that we’re even going to really have a true point guard — just be playmakers within the actions, which means she’ll play a lot. Whether that means that she’s the 1 or 2, I’ll let other people decide what that looks like.”