Kihei Clark
Clark in February 2020
No. 0 – Wisconsin Herd
PositionPoint guard
LeagueNBA G League
Personal information
Born (2000-01-25) January 25, 2000
Tarzana, California, U.S.
Listed height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Listed weight172 lb (78 kg)
Career information
High school
CollegeVirginia (2018–2023)
NBA draft2023: undrafted
Career history
2023–presentWisconsin Herd
Career highlights and awards

Kihei Issaiah Clark (born January 25, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Wisconsin Herd of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

Early life

Clark was born in the neighborhood of Tarzana, Los Angeles, California, as the oldest son of Malik and Sharon Clark. His father is Chinese and African American and his mother is Filipino.[1][2][3] He was named after Kihei, Hawaii, the town where his father proposed to his wife.[4] Clark took part in soccer and martial arts until focusing on basketball at age eight.[3] 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.[5] Clark grew up watching National Basketball Association (NBA) players Steve Nash and Chris Paul.[3] He played youth travel basketball for Kings Academy in the Conejo Valley where he was coached by Adam Mazarei, a future NBA assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies.[6] In eighth grade, Clark attended the Buckley School, a K–12 private school in Sherman Oaks. At the time, school athletic director Byrd Newman-Milic said that Clark "could probably start for (the basketball team) right now."[7]

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.[2] He helped his team reach the CIF Southern Section Division 4A semifinals, scoring 16 points in a 69–51 loss to Campbell Hall School, and collected All-Liberty League honors.[2][8] For his sophomore year, Clark transferred to William Howard Taft Charter High School in Woodland Hills.[9] In the 2015–16 season, he averaged 12.1 points and 6.9 assists, earning team most valuable player (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.[2][10] During the season, he surpassed the school record by recording 22 assists in a single game.[11] In the summer of 2017, Clark was named MVP of the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) Peach Jam after leading his Oakland Soldiers team to a title.[12] In his 2017–18 senior season, he averaged 19.4 points, 7.2 assists and 2.9 steals, shooting 41 percent on three-pointers.[2] Clark was a consensus three-star recruit.[13][14][15] He first verbally committed to play college basketball for UC Davis but decommitted in August 2017 because he felt that he could play at a higher level.[16] On October 2, 2017, he committed to Virginia after also considering Gonzaga and UCLA.[11]

College career

Clark as a freshman in February 2019

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.[17] He scored a season-high 12 points on January 26, 2019, in an 82–55 victory over Notre Dame.[18] 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.[19] In an Elite Eight match-up versus third-seeded Purdue two days later, he made a 40-foot pass that allowed teammate Mamadi Diakite to make a buzzer-beating shot and force overtime.[16][20][21] Virginia won the game, 80–75, behind Clark's five assists.[22] On April 8, he recorded three points and four assists in 33 minutes to help his team win the national championship over third-seeded Texas Tech.[23] Through 38 games as a freshman, Clark made 20 starts, averaging 4.5 points and 2.6 assists in 26.8 minutes per game.[24]

Clark set a new career-high of 15 points on November 19, helping the Cavaliers defeat Vermont 61–55.[25] On February 26, 2020, Clark made a three-pointer with 2.1 seconds left in a 56–53 victory at Virginia Tech and finished with seven points, six rebounds and six assists.[26] He scored 18 points, including a three-pointer with 28 seconds remaining, on March 7 in a 57–54 win over Louisville.[27] At the conclusion of the regular season, Clark was selected to the Third Team All-ACC.[28]

On February 23, 2022, Clark made a new career-high in points in a loss to Duke with 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting.[29] He also made his 500th assist in that game.[29] As a senior, Clark was named Honorable Mention All-ACC.[30]

Professional career

Wisconsin Herd (2023–present)

After going undrafted in the 2023 NBA draft, Clark signed with the Milwaukee Bucks on October 19, 2023,[31] but was waived two days later.[32] On November 10, 2023, Clark was named to the opening night roster for the Wisconsin Herd.[33]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

College

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2018–19 Virginia 382026.8.350.341.8252.32.6.7.04.5
2019–20 Virginia 303037.1.375.375.8764.25.91.2.110.8
2020–21 Virginia 252334.0.411.323.7342.04.5.7.09.5
2021–22 Virginia 353536.0.387.346.7822.94.4.9.110.0
2022–23 Virginia 333333.2.399.352.7672.65.41.0.110.7
Career 16114133.2.386.349.7952.84.5.9.18.9

Personal life

His father Malik Clark played basketball for NCAA Division II program Hawaii–Hilo.[34] Later in his life, Malik began running a construction and trucking company.[3] Clark is of Filipino descent through his mother Sharon, whose family was from Ilocos and moved to Hawaii.[5] He has two brothers, Nalu and Shaka.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Kihei Clark's Nationality, Ethnicity, & Background". April 9, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Kihei Clark". University of Virginia Athletics. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Whicker, Mark (February 6, 2018). "Taft's Kihei Clark is a well-grounded point guard". Orange County Register. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  4. ↑ Bolch, Ben (April 9, 2019). "From Southern California to Final Four, Virginia's Kihei Clark stands tall". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  5. 1 2 Olivares, Rick (March 23, 2018). "Fil-Ams Jalen Green, Kihei Clark, Elijah Jackson talk about their NBTC experience". The Philippine Star. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  6. ↑ Fattal, Tarek (April 9, 2019). "From local standout to national champ, Kihei Clark makes San Fernando Valley proud". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  7. ↑ Ward-Henninger, Colin (January 27, 2014). "Buckley basketball program changing school's celebrity image". MaxPreps. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Aaron Holiday powers Campbell Hall past Buckley into CIF Division 4A final". Los Angeles Daily News. February 28, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  9. ↑ Barnes, Evan (November 18, 2015). "Daily News Boys Basketball 16 Questions for 2016". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  10. ↑ Barnes, Evan (March 25, 2017). "Birmingham's Devante Doutrive named LA City Section Player of the Year". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  11. 1 2 Daniels, Evan (October 2, 2017). "Kihei Clark commits to Virginia". 247Sports. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  12. ↑ Parrish, Gary (July 17, 2017). "Five Takeaways from Peach Jam – where Marvin Bagley was the biggest story". CBS Sports. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  13. ↑ "Kihei Clark, 2018 Point guard". Rivals. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  14. ↑ "Kihei Clark". ESPN. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Kihei Clark, Taft, Point Guard". 247Sports. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  16. 1 2 Feinstein, John (April 4, 2019). "Kihei Clark's pass, a play Virginia won't forget, was one no one saw coming". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  17. ↑ "Men's Basketball vs Towson on 11/6/2018 – Box Score". VirginiaSports.com. University of Virginia Athletics. November 6, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  18. ↑ "No. 3 Virginia Wins 82–55 at Notre Dame". VirginiaSports.com. University of Virginia Athletics. January 26, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  19. ↑ "Cavaliers Top Oregon, Advance to Elite Eight". VirginiaSports.com. University of Virginia Athletics. March 29, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  20. ↑ Gleeson, Scott (April 5, 2019). "Kihei Clark, Virginia's shortest player, made team's biggest play on road to Final Four". USA Today. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  21. ↑ "Virginia Advances to Final Four". VirginiaSports.com. University of Virginia Athletics. March 31, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  22. ↑ "Men's Basketball vs Purdue on 3/30/2019 – Box Score". VirginiaSports.com. University of Virginia Athletics. March 30, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  23. ↑ "Men's Basketball vs Texas Tech on 4/8/2019 – Box Score". VirginiaSports.com. University of Virginia Athletics. April 8, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  24. ↑ "Kihei Clark Stats". ESPN. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  25. ↑ "Diakite, No. 7 Virginia hold off Vermont, 61-55". ESPN. Associated Press. November 19, 2019. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  26. ↑ "Clark's 3-pointer lifts Virginia past Virginia Tech, 56-53". ESPN. Associated Press. February 26, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  27. ↑ "Clark hit 3 to lift No. 22 Virginia past No. 10 Louisville". ESPN. Associated Press. March 7, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
  28. ↑ "2020 ACC Men's Basketball Award Winners Announced". TheACC.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. March 9, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  29. 1 2 "Watch: Virginia's Kihei Clark's Amazing 1st Half Shooting Display". YardBarker.com. February 23, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  30. ↑ "ACC Unveils 2021-22 Men's Basketball Awards". TheACC.com (Press release). Atlantic Coast Conference9. March 7, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  31. ↑ Maher, Rory (October 19, 2023). "Bucks Sign Elijah Hughes, Kihei Clark To Camp Deals". HoopsRumors.com. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  32. ↑ Amico, Sam (October 21, 2023). "Bucks Waive Glenn Robinson III, Elijah Hughes, Kihei Clark". HoopsWire.com. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  33. ↑ "WISCONSIN HERD ANNOUNCE 2023-24 OPENING NIGHT ROSTER". gleague.nba.com. November 10, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  34. ↑ Woody, Paul (April 7, 2019). "Size was secondary to Tony Bennett when he evaluated all 5-feet-9 of Kihei Clark". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
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