Kentucky basketball: Terrence Clarke declares for NBA Draft — How high will he go?
Kentucky basketball guard Terrence Clarke is heading for the NBA Draft after an injury-riddled season in college. How much has his stock been harmed?
Terrence Clarke won’t run it back with Kentucky basketball after a difficult 2020-21 campaign. The former five-star guard is heading for the NBA.
On Friday, Clarke posted his fair well message on Twitter. While announcing his declaration for the NBA Draft, he called playing for Kentucky a lifelong goal and thanked head coach John Calipari and his teammates for their support.
#Blessed pic.twitter.com/TDmKqFcnDG
— Terrence Clarke (@terrenceclarke_) March 19, 2021
Terrence Clarke doesn’t look like an NBA Draft lottery pick anymore
Clarke was the No. 8 player in the class of 2021, per 247Sports. Along with No. 5 Brandon Boston Jr., he was supposed to keep Kentucky surging towards more NCAA Tournament success.
Obviously, things didn’t work out that way, with March Madness in full swing and the Wildcats nowhere to be found.
Clarke had few opportunities to make his mark on the college game in the end.
The season started so poorly for the Wildcats — they lost six of their first seven games — Clarke’s early participation came under a cloud. He put up 22 points in a loss at Georgia Tech, but he shot 42.1 percent from the field and 21.7 percent from distance, averaged more than three turnovers in his six starts, and fouled out against Kansas and North Carolina. H
In late December, he suffered a foot injury and missed all but one game, returning in March to play 10 minutes in the SEC tournament loss to Mississippi State.
The time out with injury and the lack of impressive performances have severely cut Terrence’s draft stock.
He could have worked his way into a lottery pick; now he’s in danger of falling out of the first round entirely. 247Sports’ Big Board doesn’t feature him among their Top 30 players. NBADraft.net has him tumbling to No. 42. Sports Illustrated dumped him to No. 47.
Essentially, Clarke needs to impress scouts when he gets the chance in the gym during pre-draft evaluations and interviews to assuage fears about his ability, toughness, and maturity.
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