STORRS, Conn. — Nearly a year and a half ago, Josh Clark was unsure where he was going to be playing basketball after high school.
Nineteen months later, on a chilly Sunday afternoon at Gampel Pavilion, Clark found himself playing some of the best basketball of his young career, all while having to go up against one of the Big East’s toughest big men in Tarris Reed Jr.
The first-year forward was one of the bright spots on Sunday’s 73-57 loss to No. 4 UConn, producing at a position that’s left much to be desired through 15 games. Despite the Golden Eagles falling for the sixth consecutive time, Clark’s six-point, six-rebound, 100%-shooting performance left reason for optimism in a time where the program desperately needs it.
“He’s come a long way with his mentality, just the way that he’s approached the game,” head coach Shaka Smart said after the game. “One of the things we’ve learned about him, unlike most players, he’s better in the games than in practice. Which, as a coach, that’s not how you draw it up, but you actually like that better than the opposite.
“And we have some guys that are the opposite, currently, right now, but we feel like we can change that.”
Clark was one of two Marquette players to have a positive plus/minus — the other being Michael Phillips (+12) — posting a +10 in the 13 minutes he was on the floor.
The first time Clark came into the game, with 4:53 remaining in the first half, the Golden Eagles trailed by nine. But after a very productive three and a half minute stretch for Clark that included a layup and put-back dunk, Marquette whittled the deficit to five — the closest it would get the rest of the afternoon.
“He’s done well with the minutes he’s gotten,” Smart said. “We got out the calculator in practice this morning at breakfast and calculated his rebounding interval, which is how many minutes it takes to get one, and he’s getting one in less than three minutes on average.
“So, being tall and long, he makes some plays around the basket that other guys can’t make on both ends of the floor. He’s still green in a lot of ways defensively, he’s got a lot to learn there.”
While Clark is starting to come into his own about a year and a half into his time as a Golden Eagle, his journey to Marquette’s rotation hasn’t been any easy one. The Virginia native was finishing up his senior year at Clements High School in Sugar Land, Texas, but received no offers and had nowhere to go. Then, Marquette came into the picture and gave the 7-foot-1 forward a home.
Clark came into college at 210 pounds. Both he and the coaching staff knew that wasn’t going to cut it at the Division I level, so Clark decided to redshirt, and the weight-gaining work began. Now, halfway into his second season with the program, Clark is up to 245 pounds.
“Getting stronger over that time really helped me right now,” Clark said. “(I’m) going against Tarris Reed and stuff. He’s a big guy.”
Prior to Sunday, the big man had only played more than 10 minutes twice this season. Staying ready after riding the pine for so long can often be a challenge, especially for young players, but Clark understood he needs to be ready to impact the game by any means necessary.
“It’s a physical game,” Clark said. “I would say that’s my biggest takeaway, it’s physical. You just got to assert yourself out there.”
Halfway through the regular season, Marquette is continuing to figure out its rotations for not just this year, but the years to come. If Sunday means anything, Clark could certainly be a player to keep an eye on — something Smart sees as a real possibility.
“This is probably the best thing that came out of today for us,” Smart said after the loss, “is that, ‘Hey, [Clark] needs to be in the game more.’”
This story was written by Matthew Baltz. He can be reached at matthew.baltz@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @MatthewBaltzMU.