Terrence Adrian Clarke (September 6, 2001 – April 22, 2021) was 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

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...

of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC). Clarke was a standout

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

(AAU) basketball player for Todd Quarles at Expressions Elite in Braintree, Massachusetts. He began his high school career at

Rivers School The Rivers School is an independent, coeducational preparatory school in Weston, Massachusetts. Rivers' Middle School program includes grades 6-8, while its Upper School program includes grades 9-12. As of 2014, 489 students are enrolled from ...

before transferring to

Brewster Academy ) , established = , type = Independent boarding school , gender = Co-educational , head_name = Head of School , head = Kristy Kerin , chair_label = Chair of Trustees , chair = R C Ballentine Esq , city = ...

, where his team won the 2019 National Prep Championships. Named a

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger ...

, Clarke was a consensus five-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 ...

and one of the best

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

s in the 2020 class. He played one season in college for Kentucky before declaring for the National Basketball Association (NBA) draft. Clarke died in a car crash at the age of 19 in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, on April 22, 2021, three months before the draft. In the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. With the first overall pick, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham. The NBA us ...

, he was named an honorary selection by the league.

Early life and high school career

Terrence Clarke was born on September 6, 2001, at

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston, Massachusetts is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. It was formed out of the 1996 merger of Beth Israel Hospital (founded in 1916) and New England Deaconess Hospital (founded ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts, to Osmine Clarke and Adrian Briggs. He originally attended

Weston, Massachusetts Weston is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, about 15 miles west of Boston. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, the population of Weston was 11,851. Weston was incorporated in 1713, and protectio ...

, before he transferred to

after his freshman season. At Rivers, he was named to the all-New England Preparatory School Athletic Council class B team. At Brewster, he won the 2019 National Prep Championships. As a senior, Clarke averaged 18.3

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by nu ...

with 5.8

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

per game and three assists per game as Brewster finished with a 34–3 record before

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

ended the National Prep finals. Clarke was selected for the

McDonald's All-American Game The McDonald's All-American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the concl ...

, an all-star boys' basketball game which comprises many of the top-ranked American and Canadian high school basketball graduates played the same day as a counterpart girls' game, and was selected as a ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' third-team All American, a team composed of the third-best boys high school senior players in the United States.

Recruiting

Rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

, and

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on athletic recruitment in college football and basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount. The website hosts a large network of team-specific subsites, with each subsite b ...

all evaluated Clarke as a five-star

, with Rivals and 247Sports ranking him as the eighth-best player, and ESPN as the tenth-best player in the 2020 class. On September 14, 2019, Clarke announced his commitment to

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

over offers from

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

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 ...

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

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 ...

, 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 ...

. He also announced that he was reclassifying to the class of 2020. Clarke was ranked as the number two player in the 2021 class before reclassifying according to

College career

In his college debut on November 25, 2020, Clarke posted 12 points, four rebounds, four assists, and three steals in an 81–45 win over

Morehead State Morehead State University (MSU) is a public university in Morehead, Kentucky. The university began as Morehead Normal School, which opened its doors in 1887. The Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics, a two-year residential ea ...

. Due to a right leg injury, he was limited to eight games during the season, seven in non-conference play and one in the

SEC tournament The Southeastern Conference (SEC) sponsors nine men's sports and twelve women's sports. This is a list of conference champions for each sport. Also see the list of SEC national champions. Members The SEC was established on December 1932, when t ...

, making six starts and averaging 9.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and two assists per game. Clarke scored a career-high 22 points against the

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Rambl ...

on December 6, 2020. He finished his collegiate career with seventy-seven points over 229 minutes played. On March 19, 2021, Clarke announced that he would forgo his remaining college eligibility and

declare ''Declare'' (2000) is a supernatural spy novel by American author Tim Powers. The novel presents a secret history of the Cold War, and earned several major fantasy fiction awards. Plot summary The non-linear plot, shifting back and forth in tim ...

for the

. One day prior to his death, Clarke signed with

Klutch Sports Group Klutch Sports Group is an American sports agency based in Los Angeles, California, founded by sports agent Rich Paul. History In 2003, after the NBA draft, LeBron James asked Paul to be a part of his small inner circle, along with James' chil ...

Death and tributes

Following a workout with teammate

Brandon Boston Jr. Brandon Elliot "B. J." Boston Jr. (born November 28, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats. High schoo ...

, Clarke died on April 22, 2021, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California, after being involved in a traffic collision. The

Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

stated that Clarke was driving at a high speed when he ran a red light, hitting a car that was turning left and then hit a pole and block wall. He was driving a 2021

Genesis GV80 The Genesis GV80 ( ko, 제네시스 GV80) is a mid-size luxury crossover SUV manufactured and marketed by Genesis, Hyundai's luxury division. Overview Internally codenamed ''JX1'', the vehicle was leaked in 3D in October 2019 and officially un ...

without wearing his

seat belt A seat belt (also known as a safety belt, or spelled seatbelt) is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduc ...

properly. He was 19 years old. Clarke's agent

Rich Paul Rich Paul (born December 16, 1981) is an American sports agent based in Cleveland, Ohio. He founded Klutch Sports Group which represents a number of prominent NBA players. Paul was named by ''Forbes'' as one of the world's most powerful sports ...

said Clarke was motivated, was in the best shape of his life, had grown to 6'8" and was putting in work to be a lottery pick in the

. On July 29, 2021, between the 14th and 15th picks of the

, NBA Commissioner

Adam Silver Adam Silver (born April 25, 1962) is an American lawyer and sports executive who serves as the fifth and current commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He joined the NBA in 1992 and has held various positions within the lea ...

made Clarke a ceremonial pick, fulfilling his dream of being drafted to the NBA. Clarke's mother Osmine, brother Gavin, and sister Tatyana accepted on his behalf. For the NBA's Rising Stars Challenge during the NBA's 2021–22 All-Star weekend, his mother received an honorary jersey of Clarke's for the game.

Career statistics

College

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References

External links

Kentucky Wildcats bioUSA Basketball bioExpressions Elite Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Terrence 2001 births 2021 deaths African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Boston Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans Road incident deaths in California Shooting guards 21st-century African-American sportspeople Brewster Academy alumni Rivers School alumni