Will Wade said he’d have a team ready by the time school started.
He’s got one week.
On Wednesday, LSU did add a commitment from former UCLA guard Skyy Clark. The Los Angeles native began his college career at Illinois and played a season at Louisville before his final two years in Westwood.
Uncertainty surrounds the eligibility of some of the international prospects reported to be committed to the Tigers. Former St. John’s guard and Big East Player of the Year R.J. Luis is also a big question mark as he’s signed contracts with two different NBA organizations.
Clark is one of dozens of fifth-year players seeking one final year of eligibility under the injunction granted in Colorado last week.
WHAT WE KNOW
Clark has played a lot of basketball at some excellent programs. Over four seasons at Illinois, Louisville and UCLA, Clark has played in 102 games with 97 starts. Twelve of those starts came as a freshman at Illinois in 2022-23.
Most recently, he started 23 games at UCLA last season and averaged 11.5 points and 2.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists for the Bruins as a senior. A left hamstring strain cost him about a month.
He’s a 6-foot-3 combo guard who has always had a deft shooting touch. As a senior, he shot a sizzling 43 percent (53-for-124) from the three-point range. In consecutive December games against Cal Poly and Arizona State, he canned six threes. No player in UCLA history had ever done that. He scored 30 in the game against Cal Poly.
The 43 percent wasn’t an outlier. As a junior, he shot 40 percent on 121 attempts, and he was better than 35 percent as a sophomore starter for Louisville.
Clark is careful with the basketball. He posted a 52-to-25 assist to turnover ratio last season which better than 2-to-1. It was even better than that (91-to-38) as a junior.
Fifty-one times Clark has scored 10-plus points in a college game.
THE FIT
It’s tough to carve out a role with such uncertainty around the program. We do know that Divine Ugochukwu, Austin Nunez, Abdi Bashir and Mo Dioubate are on campus as traditional transfers.
The international players are still up in the air, as is RJ Luis.
In any event, Clark is a starting player. At 6-foot-3, he’s got good size. He’s not a super athlete, but he can finish around the rim and log significant minutes. He’s averaged 28 per game for some really strong programs over four years.
He brings a stellar shooting touch and very steady ball-handling to the Tiger backcourt. His shooting ability undoubtedly stretches the floor to create some space for drivers and post touches. You can’t leave or sag off a 43 percent three-point shooter who can make them off the dribble or off the catch.
Defensively, it’s hard to tell from a highlight tape. He did nab 32 steals a season ago which was second on UCLA’s team even though he missed 10 games. He’s not overly long or freakishly athletic, but he’s experienced and big enough to know how to handle himself on the defensive end,
HUNT’S PROJECTION
I think Clark is LSU’s point guard right now.
That could change with the addition of someone more traditional in the role, but I think he’s a better player than Austin Nunez and probably pushes Ugochukwu to the off-ball position.
That’s less of a read on Clark’s playmaking ability and more due to his ability to take care of the ball. Clark’s highlight tape shows some very strong passing ability, and he’s obviously a threat to knock down a shot at any time, so teams have to guard him closely. That allows him to be effective with a high ball screen as well as winning off the bounce when defenders are too aggressive in a closeout.
If Wade does land a true point guard, Clark becomes a lethal off ball option that helps space the floor for everyone. He’s not going to be an 18 point per game player, but he’s a near lock to shoot 40-plus percent from three-point range and average 10 to 12 points per game.
This is a seriously high floor add that could be a piece to a strong team if surrounded by some more key veteran pieces.
