It's no secret that Clemson isn't exactly known for its success basketball court. The Tigers have reached the NCAA Tournament in just three of the last 13 seasons, and it wasn't until Thursday night that they snapped a 44-year drought without an Elite Eight appearance.
When a run such as this one comes around, it requires some special players. Clemson fans have already found one player to rally around.
Ian Schieffelin might not be the Tigers' on-court leader, but he certainly has a fan base among the Clemson faithful. The junior is even inspiring a hilarious trend quickly gaining steam as Clemson keeps its run alive.
Here's what you need to know about Clemson's chef hat trend and how it's connected to Schieffelin.
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Clemson chef hats, explained
As long as Clemson is still alive in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, odds are a set of fans and even the team band will be wearing chef hats while cheering on the Tigers. No, the hats aren't a tribute to Clemson's culinary program. They're a tribute to junior forward Ian Schieffelin.
The reason is fairly simple. Schieffelin's nickname is "chef," or "Schief," as the first syllable of his name is pronounced the same way as that word.
The trend began in late January, according to The Post and Courier, when chef hats started popping up in Clemson's sea of orange. The program quickly caught on and distributed hats to the student section in early February.
The chef hats made the trip with the #Clemson band all the way to Memphis. 🧑🍳
— Grayson Mann (@gray_mann21) March 22, 2024
Glad to see fun trends travel. pic.twitter.com/5c5mZ9kukE
There was no clear moment that the nickname or the trend began, in Schieffelin's eyes.
"People just started calling me Schief," he told The Post and Courier, adding, "You start seeing somebody wearing a chef hat, I kind of assumed it was for myself."
Schieffelin isn't even one of Clemson's top three scorers, so why has he developed such a rabid fan base? For one, there aren't many catchy nicknames that can be given to leading scorers PJ Hall or Joseph Girard III. More importantly, though, Schieffelin is considered a scrappy "glue guy" for this Clemson team, and he doesn't take on the appearance of a player who can be an integral part of a deep March Madness run.
Don't let that fool you, though: Schieffelin can play. He double-doubled in Clemson's first round win over New Mexico and started off the tournament with three consecutive double-digit scoring performances. The chef hats will be out when Clemson faces Alabama on Saturday for a trip to the Final Four.
MORE: What to know about unlikely Alabama hero Grant Nelson
Ian Schieffelin stats
| Season | Games | PTS | REB | AST | FG% |
| 2021-22 | 30 | 3.1 | 2.8 | 0.9 | 39.5% |
| 2022-23 | 34 | 5.5 | 4.1 | 1.9 | 51.1% |
| 2023-24 | 35 | 9.9 | 9.4 | 2.2 | 56.5% |
| Career | 99 | 6.3 | 5.6 | 1.7 | 51.6% |
Schieffelin is averaging more than nine points and rebounds per game in his junior season while putting up his most efficient campaign to date.
Schieffelin has 10 double-doubles this season, with three games of at least 15 rebounds. Clemson was out-rebounded in all three of its NCAA Tournament wins on the way to the Elite Eight, so Schieffelin is a critical presence on the glass without many other impact rebounders in Brad Brownell's rotation.
