Wake Forest Athletics
My Basketball Journey: Gary Clark
1/27/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 27, 2011
This article was originally published in the Jan. 22 edition of Wake Forest's basketball gameday magazine, which is given away at all men's basketball home games.
Q: When did you first start playing basketball?
A: I remember I had a little Fisher Price goal as a kid. It probably was only four or five feet tall, but I used to shoot that little ball with my dad.
Q: When did you first realize you were "good" at basketball?
A: I think I played in my first league when I was like five at the Y, so then I knew I could play basketball at a pretty high level and I kept working.
Q: Were you always one of the better players on the court growing up playing basketball?
A: I was definitely one of them. When I grew up I had another great player in my city, Eniel Polynice, he plays for Seton Hall right now and played for Ole Miss. We were always going against each other, and we played with each other in high school, so it was always us two.
Q: What is the one area of your game that you have had to work the hardest on to improve?
A: I was kind of spoiled with my dad, he always tried to make me shoot and shoot and shoot. I got so locked into shooting sometimes that I would kind of forget about some other things, so maybe driving to the basket or pulling up for a mid-range jumper. You just have to remind yourself that there are more parts to the game.
Q: What is the one area of your game that has just seemed to come naturally?
A: The shooting. It was just ingrained in me at such an early age.
Q: What is the best memory of your high school basketball career?
A: I can't just use one because I played for two different high schools. I won the state title when I was a junior at Booker High, and then I went to Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida, and we won the Hoops USA national title with Solomon Alabi, Martez Walker and Dashan Harris. Those were both great feelings.
Q: What is the best memory of your AAU basketball career?
A: It's tough. I think nationals were in Tennessee one year. I think it was 13 and under, and I played with a different team called Tampa Fast Break. We ended up going to the final four, and we played against O.J. Mayo and Taylor King. That's the same year that the Florida Raptors had Nick Calathes and Chandler Parsons, and we were all pretty close.
Q: Describe the recruiting process and how you decided to attend Wake Forest.
A: It was a roller coaster ride. I signed and committed during the late period of my senior year, and after looking at all the choices I just thought Wake was the right place. It was the right atmosphere academically and basketball-wise.
Q: What do you see yourself doing after your basketball career is finished?
A: Hopefully I'll have a family. By then I'll have a master's degree, and
I'll probably be in the business world somewhere.
