#5 Gary Clark (Power Forward 2014-2017)
The 6’8″, 225 lb. forward from Clayton, NC made a huge impact for the Cats’ starting from day one as a true freshman. Gary Clark was a highly sought after Top 100 recruit out of high school (ranked 87th overall by Rivals) in the class of 2014 and continued to improve every year under Cronin’s guidance. He finished his career second in school history for victories (106), and started a school record (137) games. Clark is one of only two players in program history to lead the Cats’ in rebounding all four seasons, the other being Yancy Gates from 2009-2012.
As a senior during the 2017 season Clark averaged 12.9 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. As the unquestioned leader of the Cats’ he helped lead them to a 31-5 record, capturing both the regular season and conference tournament championships of the American Athletic Conference that season. The Cats’ received a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, but were upset in the round of 32 after blowing a 22 point versus the Nevada Wolfpack. Clark won the 2017 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year award and was named an honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press. Although he went undrafted during the 2018 NBA Draft, Clark did make the roster for the Houston Rockets signing as an undrafted free agent. He currently plays for the Orlando Magic of the NBA as a regular rotation player. As Coach Cronin stated many times, Gary Clark will be remembered by Cats’ fans for being as good a competitor on the court, as he was/is a citizen off the court.
