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In two days, Mick Cronin and the Bearcat basketball staff has collected two incredibly exciting prospects for the 2014 recruiting class. 6-foot-7 power forward Gary Clark from Clayton, North Carolina is the latest to verbal to the Bearcats, choosing UC over NC State and Pittsburgh.
Known for his high motor (which you can see on display in this video) Clark likes to play above the rim, which I don't think anyone would complain about. Obviously he needs some bulk but the kid already knows how to score. In my opinion you can teach a guy to play defense easier than you can teach him how to score. That just comes naturally to most kids. Defense, on the other hand, not so much.
Clark apparently had a great visit last weekend (along with another 2014 target Donte Grantham) to see the UC campus and take in the Northwestern State football game. Following the Tuesday commitment of Quadri Moore, UC has added two impressive front court players to go along with the previous commit Coreontae DeBerry. Now that is some serious height and athleticism for a class that desperately needed it.
So, a quick rundown of the 2014 recruiting class. 6-9 center Coreontae DeBerry, 6-8 center Quadri Moore, now add 6-7 Gary Clark to the mix. Two centers and a power forward. That's one heck of a start to a class.
Will there be even more soon? If you read the tea leaves (twitter) there just could be another coming soon.
If you're into rankings: ESPN has Clark 80th, 247Sports ranks him 134, and Rivals 145. That's quite a gap between ESPN and Rivals, but again these rankings are a bit of a guess anyway.