Point guard recruit Skyy Clark ‘locked in’ with Kentucky’s new coaches ahead of visit
The departure of assistant coach Joel Justus from the Kentucky basketball program last month was an unexpected turn of events for the Wildcats’ top recruit for next season.
Skyy Clark — one of the best point guards in high school basketball — had been recruited by Justus since the summer before his sophomore year, and the former UK assistant was the first point of contact between Clark’s family and the Kentucky program. So, when Justus left Lexington for the top assistant job at Arizona State in late April, it led to uncertainty.
“We were shocked,” the star recruit’s father, Kenny Clark, told the Herald-Leader this week.
Clark’s father said at the time of Justus’ reported departure that his son wouldn’t make any changes in his recruitment due to the coaching turnover, but he did acknowledge this week that the family was caught off guard by the news. And that shock turned to nervousness in the following days, which included little contact on UK’s end as John Calipari moved to get his 2021-22 coaching staff finalized.
Kentucky fans who closely follow the Cats’ recruiting efforts caught on to the uncertainty, and speculation swirled that Clark would ultimately back out of his commitment.
Since then, Kentucky has added Illinois assistants Orlando Antigua and Ronald “Chin” Coleman to its coaching staff. The communication channels have been reopened, and Clark sounds just as committed to the Cats now as he was when he first announced his pledge last October.
On Monday night, Clark tweeted that he would take an official visit to UK on the weekend of June 11. On Tuesday, his father praised Kentucky’s new coaches, saying the family is in constant contact with Coleman and that Clark also talks regularly with Calipari and Antigua.
“We love those dudes,” Kenny Clark said. “They’ve showed us nothing but love. It just makes it feel right. Those dudes are definitely making him feel like a priority. Even though they’re new — and we had built a relationship with Coach Justus — we’re locked in with the University of Kentucky. That’s not changing.”
The elder Clark said his son and the rest of the family were looking forward to getting back on UK’s campus next month. They visited Lexington in early 2020 — just a few weeks before COVID-19 shut down college recruiting travel — and the NCAA-mandated “dead period” that followed restricted high school recruits from visiting college campuses.
Though the UK coaching staff has been in constant contact with Clark and his family through video meetings and phone calls during that time, next month’s visit will be the first time the two sides will get to meet in person since that February 2020 visit. And Kentucky’s coaching staff has undergone a dramatic overhaul since then.
The last time that Clark was on campus, Kenny Payne, Tony Barbee and Justus were the Wildcats’ three main assistants. In the year-plus since, UK has hired Antigua, Coleman, Bruiser Flint and Jai Lucas.
“It’ll be nice to look people in their face and shake their hand,” Kenny Clark said. “We just want to continue to grow our relationship with Coach Coleman, Coach O, Coach Lucas — all of those guys — so we can hit the ground running. It’s going to feel amazing. I know my son is excited. At the end of the day, it’s all about him and how he feels. And I know he’s looking forward to meeting everybody.”
Getting ready for Kentucky
Clark has been plenty busy on and off the court over the past few weeks.
After missing out on pretty much any semblance of a grassroots basketball season last summer due to COVID-19, Clark has been competing with Nike-affiliated Mokan Elite this spring. His play has been met with rave reviews from those who have seen him up close.
247Sports analyst Travis Branham scouted the UK commitment at the KC Classic this month and came away impressed with the 6-foot-3 prospect’s point guard skills.
“What really stood out to me about him was his playmaking ability,” Branham told the Herald-Leader this week. “We’ve known for quite some time just how good of a scorer he is — he’s really crafty and has great ball skills. He’s just dynamic with the ball in his hands. He can make shots from three, but he’s great getting in the paint, getting to his spots and scoring the basketball.
“He’s always been a talented passer — there’s no denying that — but he is showcasing that he can play that full-time (point guard position). He can make good decisions on the fly and make plays for his teammates.”
Clark has long been known for that scoring ability. He dropped a school-record 51 points in the first game of his junior season and turned in several other impressive offensive performances before opting out of the final few weeks of the campaign due to COVID-19 concerns in the Nashville area.
Originally listed as a combo guard, Clark has worked hard to hone and display those point guard skills. Rather than classify him as a combo, Clark’s father used the phrase “a point guard who can score,” and that seems to best fit the future Wildcat at this stage in his development.
Branham pointed to Clark’s strong frame, heightened basketball awareness and a “very advanced” skill set as traits that should make him an instant-impact player at Kentucky in the 2022-23 season. So far, he’s the Wildcats’ only commitment for the 2022 class. Clark is the No. 10 overall player in that group, according to the 247Sports composite rankings.
His profile will only be raised by his next move. Clark announced this month that he will play his final season of high school ball at Montverde (Fla.) Academy, the reigning national champion and perennial contender under highly respected coach Kevin Boyle. (Clark’s father said they turned down a lucrative offer to turn pro and play in the Overtime Elite League, which has already signed four high school players, deciding that college would be the better path).
Montverde will feature several other star recruits next season — including major UK target Jalen Duren, who is making a case for the No. 1 ranking in the 2022 class — and Clark will be the point guard responsible for running that ultra-talented team.
“It’ll definitely help him a lot,” Branham said. “He won’t be relied on so heavily to score. He’ll still have plenty of opportunities to go get his own buckets, but playing for a team like Montverde — with the amount of talent they’re going to have next season — he’s definitely going to be relied on more from the playmaking and facilitating perspective.”
It was announced Monday that Montverde will be one of several powerhouse programs to compete in a new league pitting the top high school teams in the country against each other throughout the 2021-22 season, offering plenty of elite competition for Clark and his new teammates.
Clark’s father compared the wealth of talent his son will play with and against at Montverde to the type of situation he’ll find at Kentucky a year from now. He also acknowledged that Boyle and Calipari have some similarities in their coaching approach. Both are demanding of their players, something Clark sees as beneficial to his long-term development.
“They’re on their players, but they only want the kids to be the best version of themselves,” Clark’s father said. “They want them to be the best basketball players possible. And you’ve got to love that. Some people run away from it, but not us.
“There are no days off. You can’t take any games off. It’s going to be a challenge, but we’re ready for it.”
This story was originally published May 26, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
