I know it is still going to be a sticking point but Honor landing interest from Notre Dame, Clemson and others as a transfer, kinda should (& I stress should) eliminate the horrible loss stuff. It's not as if Honor was someone completely unranked, he was a 3* recruit in most ranking systems.
A player playing at a high level, with shots going in, is capable of beating a team that doesn't make shots or comes in unfocused.
In a one game scenario, Honor played himself onto the radar and then played well enough over the rest of the season to generate Power 5 or major school interest.
The only item that bears watching in a year, is NJ guard Amir Al-Dawes, who is a scoring lead guard. Honor and Dawes are now likely to be competing for the Clemson starting guard role down the road.
With how quickly kids decide to transfer, it will be interesting if Honor beats out Dawes during this year in practice while sitting out and who wins this battle for minutes. I think both players can thrive for Clemson sharing 40 to 45 minutes in a 2 or 3 guard offense.