Story Courtesy Ben Winterrowd, Clemson Athletics
Clemson University men’s basketball Assistant Coach Dick Bender announced his retirement from Clemson on Wednesday. Bender served 14 years on Head Coach Brad Brownell’s staff in multiple roles, including the last 10 as an assistant coach.
“I want to congratulate Coach Bender on a great career and well-earned retirement,” said Brownell. “Coach Bender has been a part of my life since I was a college student. The mentor he’s been and the example he’s set has been invaluable in my development as a coach. His dedication, integrity and impact on our teams over the years go far beyond just the court. We would not have achieved our level of success without his hard work and professional experience. He’s been an unbelievable mentor to so many players and young staff members over his time here. He has been a tremendous representative of our program and the values we strive to uphold every day. I am grateful for his years of service to our program and wish him, his wife Beth and his family nothing but the best in this next chapter.”
Bender has been instrumental in the Tigers’ success on the court dating back to the 2010 season when Brownell hired him as director of operations. Since becoming an assistant coach in 2016-17 after two seasons working for Earl Grant at College of Charleston, Clemson has won 209 games, including 98 over the last four seasons – a school record for a four-year period.
“It was a tremendous honor and privilege to have been a part of Clemson basketball for 14 seasons helping elevate the program through the unwavering belief in Coach Brownell and the ‘TEAM’ culture he has established,” said Bender.
“I will be forever grateful to Coach Brownell for giving me two different opportunities to serve him and the program here at Clemson. Working for him, you benefit from an expected shared ownership in the success of the program as well as his elite leadership skills in demanding true ‘TEAM’ and all that goes with that. Integrity, work ethic, sacrifice and grit all necessary for team success and success in life. Throughout my 40 years of coaching, my experience at Clemson has been the hardest and most rewarding. I am extremely happy to be stepping away having helped be a part of arguably the best era in Clemson Basketball history.”
“I would also like to thank all the players and their willingness to be coached, all my co-workers spanning 14 seasons, former President Jim Clements, Graham Neff, past administrators, Aaron Dunham and all in the committed booster group as well as the entire Clemson University community for their support and help throughout my time here.”
“Most importantly, I thank my lovely wife Beth for her support of me chasing my passion while raising our children throughout the journey. I look forward to spending quality time with her, our sons Dalton and Dillon and their families.”
Since switching to the Clemson post player position group, the Tigers have seen much success with Coach Bender. PJ Hall has been a two-time All-ACC player for Clemson, including finishing seventh in program history in scoring. Ian Schieffelin enjoyed a career year in 2024-25 after averaging 10.1 points and 9.4 rebounds en route to the ACC’s Most Improved Player award in 2023-24. Schieffelin upped his scoring to 12.9 points per game as a senior and was named All-ACC Second Team.
Viktor Lakhin, although only with the team for one season, enjoyed a career year shooting the basketball. Lakhin shot a career-high 37.5 percent from three and scored a career-best 388 points. He also totaled career bests in blocks (50) and steals (52) in 2024-25.
RJ Godfrey returned to Clemson for his senior season in 2025-26 and enjoyed career highs in multiple categories, while earning Honorable Mention All-ACC and NABC All-District Second Team honors.
Bender had a positive effect on Clemson’s lead guards in his first five seasons back on staff. Marcquise Reed emerged as a top scoring threat for the Tigers in 2017-18 – leading the team with 15.8 points per contest, while adding 116 assists (second on the squad). Reed upped that averaged to nearly 20.0 points per game in 2018-19, while becoming a 1,000-point scorer in a Tiger uniform.
Reed made second-team All-ACC in 2017-18 and third-team All-ACC in 2018-19. Shelton Mitchell made second-team All-ACC Tournament. He was the Tigers’ second-leading scorer and posted over 100 assists in his first season at Clemson, while upping his points-per-game to a career-high 12.2 and finished with a team-best and career-high 119 assists in 2017-18. Combined with All-NCAA Regional selection Gabe DeVoe, the Tigers won 25 games in 2017-18.
Bender wraps up a 40-year career in basketball, dating back to first collegiate coaching position under Head Coach Royce Waltman in 1987 at DePauw University coaching Coach Brownell.
Bender had stops at DePauw, Radford, Indiana State and Clemson throughout his coaching career.
