Marvin Clark
- Thread starter cloneraslin
- Start date
Relevant parts:
Late last year, Mr. Clark strained his foot, forcing the two players to put their workouts on hold for several weeks. When he returned to the court, in January, he learned that Iowa State, another Mokan connection, wanted in.
The university would have him on two visits. On the first, he and his teammates got a behind-the-scenes look as the Cyclones prepared for a Big 12 Conference game. A week later, he came back with his mom and a coach from Sunrise.
During a workout, the team’s head coach, Fred Hoiberg, watched as Mr. Clark’s left-handed stroke filled the net. The coach, who played for a decade in the NBA and then worked for the league’s Minnesota Timberwolves, seemed impressed.
After Mr. Clark made a string of shots, Mr. Hoiberg turned to the Sunrise coach and said, “I’ve seen all I need to see.â€
The Iowa State trip also showed the power that social media can have over recruits. During a Cyclones game that weekend, Mr. Clark posted several messages on Twitter and Instagram. “Loving The Hilton Magic!†he wrote, sharing a photo from his seat in Hilton Coliseum. “Mad Respect For The Iowa State Fan Base!â€
The fans raved. Many knew he was on a recruiting visit and tweeted their appreciation. Some mentioned a short documentary that Mr. Clark’s AAU coaches had commissioned on his life, about the struggles he had overcome and the AAU program’s role in helping him. “Watched your video this week. Was glued,†tweeted one fan. “Way to rise above.â€
Mr. Clark picked up 200 Twitter followers that weekend, including Mr. Hoiberg’s wife. He has set his phone to vibrate whenever his name is mentioned on Twitter. In the days following his visit, it buzzed 10 to 20 times a day with tweets from Iowa State fans. Many of them he answered.
Soon after the visit, Mr. Clark called Mr. Caruthers and told him he could see himself in maroon and gold, the Cyclones’ colors. A few weeks earlier, he had said the same thing about Kansas State.
Just as his recruitment was heating up, the line from Iowa State went cold. When Mr. Caruthers asked why, a Cyclones assistant told him that Mr. Hoiberg needed reassurance.
The assistant asked for Mr. Clark’s statistics on the season and wanted to see some recent game film. He insisted that he still wanted to get the deal done, his texts showed.
But Mr. Clark was not happy.
“How do you go from being my best friend to stop talking to me?†he said.
After consulting his handlers, he decided to cut ties. Just like that, his latest No. 1 choice was out.
“I’m done with playing games,†he said. “If you sleep on me, you’ll regret it.â€
Something made Hoiberg hesitate on Clark, I wouldn't be shocked if it was how heavily involved his handlers were after the Vaughn debacle.
I don't understand how it is creepy. Why use that word? Just like how is it creepy to follow a 19 year old kid on his public twitter profile with 5,000 followers.
Creepiness has to be unwanted, these kids bathe in the attention. They spend their entire lives attaining more of it. It's what drives many of them to play sports at all along with the money.
I don't think we were playing games. I'm assuming they found prospects they liked better at his position in Darien Williams and BDJ. BDJ is marginally his position.
Would've been a good get, but I think that we ended up in better shape with what we needed. BDJ, Williams, Cooke are putting us in a pretty good spot in the long and short term.
I don't think there is any question we ended up in a better spot than had he committed. Williams, Cooke, and BDJ are all much better uses of that scholarship spot.
Why? Hes not coming here. I get that the stuff about Hoiberg is somewhat informative, but its also one side of the story. The kid sounds like a major prima-donna.
I agree the handlers came across as slime looking out for themselves rather than Clark. I hope Clark does well but wow did they jerk around the kid, he should have stayed at the home he was at, that was his first consistent home but all for the sake of playing with an orange ball they took away his best opportunity to truly grow as a person. Lets say it does all work out best for him and he does go pro at some level, he will have no idea how succeed and his "handlers" will rob him blind, what a said social commentary on the seedy underbelly of basketball in our country.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
You could always choose not to open the thread.
Not sure why this is some sort of problem.
I opened it thinking maybe he was back on the market or something to that effect. How would I find that out without opening the thread? But thanks for the advice!
I like to read lots of stories about sports that are not ISU sports related. This one is semi ISU sports related. It is interesting.
I am going to go out on a limb and say I have other interests different than you as well.
Am I allowed to have those interests and non interests?