Vigil planned for Terrence Clarke on Friday night; Calipari in L.A.; Barbee reacts.

The University of Kentucky men’s basketball team has organized a candlelight vigil Friday night to celebrate the life of Terrence Clarke, the former player who died in a car accident in Los Angeles on Thursday.

An Instagram post by sophomore Keion Brooks said the ceremony will be held at 8:30 p.m. in front of the Wildcat Coal Lodge, the men’s basketball dorm on the UK campus. UK officials asked that anyone attending please wear a mask and practice social distancing to adhere to COVID-19 safety protocols.

“All are welcome to come and show their respects as we celebrate the life of our brother,” Brooks’ post said in an article Kentucky Sports Radio posted to call attention to the gathering.

Also Friday, Kentucky Coach John Calipari headed to Los Angeles to be with Clarke’s family. The UK coach published an article on his website, CoachCal.com, sharing his thoughts about this difficult time for his team, and the player’s family, friends and fans.

“I do not know what these next few hours, days and weeks hold for all of us,” Calipari wrote. “They are going to be some of the hardest days we will ever go through. Some of the conversations I have already had are gut-wrenching.”

Calipari’s article shared personal details of his relationship with Clarke and addressed how the team was dealing with their grief.

Barbee on Clarke

Former Kentucky assistant coach Tony Barbee, who was introduced Friday as the new head coach at Central Michigan, was asked to share stories about Clarke during his introductory news conference at his new school.

“It’s tough to talk about because when you connect with someone on such a deep, personal level — with him, his mother Osmine, his mentor Dexter Floyd, just personally, for me, as excited, as much as high as I’ve been for this opportunity here at CMU, and then the news as I was traveling, uh, here to Mount Pleasant yesterday, it made it, you know, I hit an extreme low,” Barbee said, his voice cracking. “And I’m so, I’m so saddened for Terrence, his family, his mother.

“You’re talking about a young man who had a great soul, had a great spirit. The obvious is the extreme basketball talent. But he was a caring kid who was fun-loving. He loved his teammates. They loved him.

“May Terrence rest in peace. May things get better for his family because I know they’re really struggling. But we all are who knew Terrence so well.”

This story was originally published April 23, 2021 at 4:11 PM.