Kihei Issaiah Clark (born January 25, 2000) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

player for the Virginia Cavaliers of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC).

Early life

Clark was born in

Tarzana, Los Angeles Tarzana is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Tarzana is on the site of a former ranch owned by author Edgar Rice Burroughs. It is named after Burroughs' fictional jungle hero, Tarzan. History ...

as the oldest son of Malik and Sharon Clark. His father is Chinese and African American and his mother is Filipino. He was named after

Kihei, Hawaii Kihei ( haw, Kīhei, ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 21,423 at the 2020 census. Geography Kihei is located at (20.759122, −156.457228). According to the United States Census Bur ...

, the town where his father proposed to his wife. Clark took part in

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

until focusing on basketball at age eight. He was inspired to start playing basketball by his father, who played the sport in college. He would often play with his childhood friend

Cameron Boyce Cameron Mica Boyce (May 28, 1999 – July 6, 2019) was an American actor. He began his career as a child actor, appearing in the 2008 films '' Mirrors'' and '' Eagle Eye'', along with the comedy film '' Grown Ups'' (2010) and its 2013 sequel. ...

. Clark grew up watching

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA) players Steve Nash and

Chris Paul Christopher Emmanuel Paul (born May 6, 1985), nicknamed "CP3" and “The Point God”, is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Paul is widely regarded as one o ...

. He played youth travel basketball for Kings Academy in the

Conejo Valley The Conejo Valley is a region spanning both southeastern Ventura County and northwestern Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States. It is located in the northwestern part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. Communities in the Conejo ...

where he was coached by Adam Mazarei, a future NBA assistant coach for the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

. In eighth grade, Clark attended the Buckley School, a

K–12 K–12, from kindergarten to 12th grade, is an American English expression that indicates the range of years of publicly supported primary and secondary education found in the United States, which is similar to publicly supported school grades ...

private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

Sherman Oaks Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density than ...

. At the time, school athletic director Byrd Newman-Milic said that Clark "could probably start for (the basketball team) right now."

High school career

In his freshman season in 2014–15, Clark played basketball for the Buckley School, averaging 15.2 points and six assists per game. He helped his team reach the

CIF Southern Section The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF ...

Division 4A semifinals, scoring 16 points in a 69–51 loss to

Campbell Hall School , motto_translation = Do Not Forget , streetaddress = 4533 Laurel Canyon Boulevard , city = Studio City, Los Angeles , state = California , zipcode = 91607 , country = US , type = Private, day school , religion = Episcopal , ...

, and collected All-

Liberty League The Liberty League is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III. Member schools are top institutions that are all located in the state of New York. History It was founde ...

honors. For his sophomore year, Clark transferred to

William Howard Taft Charter High School William Howard Taft Charter High School is a public school located on the corner of Ventura Boulevard and Winnetka Avenue in the Woodland Hills district of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California, within the Los Angeles Unified Schoo ...

in Woodland Hills. In the 2015–16 season, he averaged 12.1 points and 6.9 assists, earning team

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

(MVP) and all-conference recognition. As a junior, Clark averaged 18.9 points, 7.1 assists, and 4.2 rebounds per game, winning team MVP, all-city, and all-conference accolades. During the season, he surpassed the school record by recording 22 assists in a single game. In the summer of 2017, Clark was named MVP of the

Nike Elite Youth Basketball League The Nike Elite Youth Basketball League, also known as Nike EYBL, or simply EYBL, is a basketball circuit for teams of players aged 17 and under. The circuit was founded in 2010 and is composed of AAU travel teams. Both boys and girls play in the E ...

(EYBL) Peach Jam after leading his Oakland Soldiers team to a title. In his 2017–18 senior season, he averaged 19.4 points, 7.2 assists and 2.9 steals, shooting 41 percent on three-pointers. Clark was a consensus three-star

recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * '' Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (E ...

. He first verbally committed to play college basketball for

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

but decommitted in August 2017 because he felt that he could play at a higher level. On October 2, 2017, he committed to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

after also considering Gonzaga and

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

College career

On November 6, 2018, Clark made his debut for Virginia, recording four points and six assists, his eventual season-high mark, in a 73–42 win over

Towson Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincorp ...

. He scored a season-high 12 points on January 26, 2019, in an 82–55 victory over Notre Dame. On March 29, in the Sweet Sixteen round of the 2019 NCAA tournament, Clark posted 12 points and six assists, matching career-bests in both categories in a 53–49 win over 12th-seeded

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. In an

Elite Eight In the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship or the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship, the "Elite Eight" comprises the final eight teams, representing the regional finals, or national quarterfinals. In Division I and Divis ...

match-up versus third-seeded

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

two days later, he made a 40-foot pass that allowed teammate Mamadi Diakite to make a buzzer-beating shot and force

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

. Virginia won the game, 80–75, behind Clark's five assists. On April 8, he recorded three points and four assists in 33 minutes to help his team win the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

over third-seeded

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

. Through 38 games as a freshman, Clark made 20 starts, averaging 4.5 points and 2.6 assists in 26.8 minutes per game. Clark set a new career-high of 15 points on November 19, helping the Cavaliers defeat

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

61–55. On February 26, 2020, Clark made a three-pointer with 2.1 seconds left in a 56–53 victory at

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

and finished with seven points, six rebounds and six assists. He scored 18 points, including a three-pointer with 28 seconds remaining, on March 7 in a 57–54 win over

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

. At the conclusion of the regular season, Clark was selected to the Third Team All-ACC. On February 23, 2022, Clark made a new career-high in points in a loss to

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

with 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting. He also made his 500th assist in that game. As a senior, Clark was named Honorable Mention All-ACC.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 38 , , 20 , , 26.8 , , .350 , , .341 , , .825 , , 2.3 , , 2.6 , , .7 , , .0 , , 4.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , 30 , , 37.1 , , .375 , , .375 , , .876 , , 4.2 , , 5.9 , , 1.2 , , .1 , , 10.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 25 , , 23 , , 34.0 , , .411 , , .323 , , .734 , , 2.0 , , 4.5 , , .7 , , .0 , , 9.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 35 , , 35 , , 36.0 , , .387 , , .346 , , .782 , , 2.9 , , 4.4 , , .9 , , .1 , , 10.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 128 , , 108 , , 33.2 , , .383 , , .348 , , .808 , , 2.9 , , 4.2 , , .9 , , .1 , , 8.5

Personal life

His father Malik Clark played basketball for

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

program Hawaii–Hilo. Later in his life, Malik began running a construction and trucking company. Clark is of Filipino descent through his mother Sharon, whose family was from

Ilocos Ilocos Region ( ilo, Rehion/Deppaar ti Ilocos; pag, Sagor na Baybay na Luzon/Rehiyon Uno; tl, Rehiyon ng Ilocos) is an administrative region of the Philippines, designated as Region I, occupying the northwestern section of Luzon and part of ...

and moved to Hawaii. He has two brothers, Nalu and Shaka.

References

External links

Virginia Cavaliers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Kihei 2000 births Living people American men's basketball players American people of Ilocano descent American sportspeople of Filipino descent Basketball players from Los Angeles People from Tarzana, Los Angeles Point guards Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball players