Clark's freshman year at Cincinnati 'better than expected'
Former Clayton stand-out Clark adjusting quickly at Cincinnati
By Nick Stevens
Posted at 10:52 a.m.
Ask high school basketball fans in the Triangle, and most won't be surprised that Clayton High School graduate Gary Clark has already had success in college.
Clark, however, surprised himself.
After leaving Clayton and arriving at the University of Cincinnati, Clark went to work. He hit the weight room, he worked on his conditioning, and he practiced to fine-tune his skills.
It paid off.
"[My freshman year] was way better than I expected. I came in and I was trying to find my way, I was trying to fit in, figure out what they needed me to do," Clark said. "I was trying to find out how much I was going to play as a freshman, where am I going to find minutes, how can I get extra minutes?"
Clark found plenty of minutes. In his first collegiate game, Clark played 24 minutes, scored 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting, brought in six rebounds, a posted four steals.
It was the beginning of a strong freshman season. Clark was one of the Bearcats' starters.
"I worked so hard to earn a starting position, and to start all season, that was above what I expected coming in," Clark said.
Playing college basketball is different than playing high school basketball though, and Clark learned that lesson quickly.
"The expectations of how hard you have to play, the preparation for different games, it was definitely a great experience," he said. "A lot of people talk about how hard the Bearcats play, but it's definitely different being here and playing that hard."
Clark bought in to the style of play. For the season, Clark led the team in rebounds with 7.2 per game, he was second in blocked shots with 1.3 per game, he was second in assists with 1.7 per game, he was third in field goal percentage at 52.4 percent, and he was fourth in scoring at 7.8 points per game.
For the season, Clark averaged 27.8 minutes per game, the third most on the team, and the most of any freshman.
On Nov. 29, Clark's sixth game at Cincinnati, he posted his first double-double since leaving Clayton. Against Ole Miss, Clark scored 12 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in a 66-54 loss. Clark scored in double-figures 11 times this season, posting three double-doubles.
When March rolled around, Clark and the Bearcats found themselves in the NCAA Tournament.
"Growing up and watching it, filling out brackets, and now to be able to play in it, it was a great experience," Clark said of March Madness. "Your family calls you, telling you they're picking you and pulling for you ... To play in an atmosphere like the NCAA Tournament, every game is a crazy experience."
Earning a No. 8 seed, Cincinnati took on No. 9 Purdue in the second round of the tournament.
With 48.5 seconds left in regulation, Cincinnati trailed Purdue by seven points, but the Bearcats went on a 10-3 run to send the game to overtime, thanks to a buzzer-beating lay-up by Troy Caupain.
With 3:17 left in overtime, Cincinnati trailed Purdue 63-62, and that's when Coreontae DeBerry got an offensive rebound and a put-back to put the Bearcats up 64-63. Cincinnati never trailed again, winning 66-65, surviving a last-second three-point attempt from Purdue.
"To play against Purdue in the first round and to win the way we did, it was special," Clark said.
The win setup a match-up with undefeated and top-seeded Kentucky in the third round, but this time there was no March magic for the Bearcats. No. 1 Kentucky eliminated Cincinnati 64-51.
"It was a great experience to play against those guys. They're undefeated. To play against a team where their whole team is big was different," he said. "They out-numbered us with their bench, but as far as playing against a team like that, it's a great experience."
With his freshman season now behind him, Clark will turn his attention to his sophomore season. He said he needs to get stronger, and he also plans to work on his mid-range jump shot.
"I've worked on it since I was in high school, but I never got really comfortable just pulling up," Clark said. "I should be a double-figure rebounder, have double-figure numbers every night. I should be able to guard the point guard down to the center if I have to."
Clark is ready for the hard work, and he has a message for current high school players who may have the opportunity to play at higher level.
"I would honestly say play hard and outplay your opponent. If you're playing harder than them the whole game, then eventually your team will be up big," he said. "Here we're wearing teams down, playing against guys who eventually get tired. If I would have known that (in high school), I would have outplayed a lot of people."
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