By David Knox
Sports Editor
How far will your dreams get you? Till the 5 a.m. alarm clock blares.
That’s when you lace up your basketball shoes and head to the gym or the weight room and put your work ethic to those NBA dreams.
That’s the story of Coty Clarke, the former Pinson Valley Indian star who today finds himself a member of the Boston Celtics.
Clarke signed a 10-day contract with the Celtics on Monday. He got the news after leading the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League to a win Sunday. He replaces David Lee, who was waived.
“I was happy that I got the call, but now it’s right back to work,” Clarke told Celtics.com after a workout Monday at the Celtics’ practice facility in Waltham, Mass.
Back to work. That’s become Clarke’s mantra.
At Pinson Valley, Clarke was most often the most talented player on the floor. He had size and skill. He led the Indians to a 31-3 his junior year in 2009, the best record in school history. He was a two-time first team All-State selection and won the slam dunk competition at the state championships twice.
He was injured during AAU ball before his senior year, and it took a little while for Clarke – who then-Hewitt-Trussville coach Tim Reeves called “the most gifted person on this side of town, no doubt” – to round into shape. Maybe 2009 had come too easily. Now he was without four starters and had a new coach in Mark McCaleb. He had more to prove.
Clarke was beginning to put work ethic to those dreams – “That’s what I’m working on … to practice like you’re playing a game,” he said as his senior season started. “I need to go hard everytime.”
Even with all that talent, and a newfound resolve, it’s a long road to the NBA.
The journey continued at Lawson State Community College in Birmingham, where he dominated again. He averaged a double-double over two seasons in points and rebounds — averages of 12.8 points and 12.1 rebounds through 54 contests. College recruiters became a little more interested in the 6-foot-7, 225-pounder. JucoRecruiting.com ranked him No. 8 in its Top 100 and he drew interest from several SEC and Conference USA schools, but it was Birmingham native Mike Anderson, the Arkansas coach, who saw something in him that others had missed.
Coty Clarke, former Pinson Valley high School star, is getting his chance with the Boston Celtics.
Submitted photo
Maybe it didn’t hurt that Anderson was a local high school product himself who went the local juco route, at Jefferson State, before ending up at Tulsa.
As Anderson said during Clarke’s senior year in 2014, when the former PV star was helping the Razorbacks toward a postseason run – “He’s the glue guy that has slowly become the leader of this basketball team.
“I think guys are following his beat,” Anderson said. “To me, the unselfishness that he brings to the table has kind of tripled throughout our basketball team.”
Clarke’s numbers were well-rounded, but not eye-popping. The team’s co-captain averaged 8.6 points and 5.5 rebounds in his Hogs career –becoming just the fifth player in Arkansas history to compile 500 points, 300 rebounds, 100 assists and 100 steals in a two-year span.
Leadership, selflessness and work ethic don’t always make the highlight reel, and even NBA scouts spend a lot of time looking at measurables and stats. At 6-7 he was a little undersized for power forward and he didn’t have enough range to be a true small forward.
Clarke went undrafted, and the road continued to Israel, where he played for Hapoel Kazrin/Galil Elion in 2014-15. He averaged 19.7 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 2014-15, and earned a spot on the Boston Celtics Summer League Team and made the training camp roster last August.
He got in just one preseason game, but he made enough of an impression that he was among the last cuts. He signed to play with the Celtics’ NBDL team in Maine, and in 39 games averaged 16.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 steals in 26.0 minutes per game.
That earned him the call.
“Our front office has been thrilled about him and thrilled about his play in Maine the whole year,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “And we obviously have a familiarity with him from being here in the fall, so we thought it would be a great opportunity to bring a guy on board, while we had some practice time, to really get a chance to evaluate him within our system.”
Said Clarke, “It’s just another step, another goal, and I’m thankful for the opportunity and thankful that they came and got me.”
He knows he’s got more to prove: “That they made the right decision by bringing me in at training camp, putting me in the D-League and showing that I can play at this level, showing that I’m here to work and you’ve got a guy that you can keep.”
Here to work.
As Arkansas assistant coach Matt Zimmerman tweeted after hearing the news: “Big congratulations to Razorback Coty Clarke … Tremendous work ethic.” And responded Anderson: “Congrats Coty! Hard work and perseverance is paying off!”
