The Bay Area basketball scene has had a deep relationship with Australia on all levels. Current NBA players Andrew Bogut, Matthew Dellavedova, and Patty Mills have connections to both Australia and the Bay Area. Last season's Saint Mary's Gaels program had three team members originally from Australia. Bay Area native Scott Fisher played and coached in Australia for over twenty years before returning state side to be an assistant coach at the University of Hawaii and now head coach at Ohlone Junior College in Fremont. Other Australian basketball players making their mark include Aron Baynes (San Antonio Spurs), Luke Schenscher (Georgia Tech Final Four appearance, Chicago Bulls), Andrew Gaze (San Antonio Spurs), Shane Heal (Minnesota Timber wolves), Nathan Jawai (Toronto Raptors), and Cameron Bairstow (Chicago Bulls).
At the high school level, Campolindo's Austin Clarke may be the next high level prospect from the land down under. At 6-foot-5 and 185 pounds, the 2016 prospect is ranked No. 24 in the initial NCP 2016 rankings. As a sophomore this past season in a critical role in the second rotation, he helped the Cougars to a 23-8 season in the Diablo Foothill Athletic League before losing to Archbishop Riordan in the postseason.
Clarke has been in the United States since August 2013 when his father, Marty Clarke, became the assistant basketball coach in Moraga for the Saint Mary's Gaels. Clarke played as a varsity starter in his freshman year at Henley High in Adelaide, South Australia. Before moving to America, the elder Clarke played on the professional level and also represented the Australia Under 21 team at the world championships. Thereafter, Clarke's father coached at the Australian Institute of Sport for thirteen years and was the assistant coach of the Australian Team at the London Olympics. Clarke's mother, Julie Wilts, played professionally for Australia and was part of the 1989 bronze medal winning team at the Under 21 world championships in Bilbao, Spain.
During the summer, the younger Clarke is playing for the Lakeshow 16 Elite team. Lakeshow Coach Scott Clark says, "Austin's strengths are his basketball IQ and feel for the game, can defend and play multiple positions, and rebound well. His shooting keeps improving. All around solid player. On the court, he can be trusted to make the right play. Wants to be coached and wants to get better."
Coach Clark, who played at Foothill High class of 2008 and then played at Humboldt State class of 2012 as a shooting guard, says, "I definitely see a future at the next level for him. He comes from a basketball family and it definitely shows on the court. You can tell he has been around the game his whole life and has had some great experiences. He's the type of person you want to have on your team."
His Australian roots are deep as Clarke compares his game to Cameron Bairstow who played at New Mexico before being drafted by the Chicago Bulls last month. Clarke plays with tremendous toughness and has solid rebounding abilities like Bairstow.
A strong showing for the rest of the summer should generate more interest on top of the inquiries from Cal State Fullerton, Portland, Pacific, San Jose State, and UC Irvine. Clarke has no offers yet, has not made any visits, and is open with his recruiting criteria. He currently sports a 3.20 GPA and is undecided on his field of study. From a basketball perspective, he wants to play in a team oriented system with good coaching and mentoring.
Clarke has learned much about basketball from his father. He says, "Pretty much every part of my game has come from what my Dad has taught me. Skill wise, I still have much to improve on and he's always helping me get better. Recruiting wise, he's explained to me how important it is for me to find a school that I will be happy to be at not only basketball wise but also school wise, for my college career."
As for playing for his dad, he says, "I would consider any school with interest in recruiting me. St Mary's would be a great place to play as I think their tough style of team basketball fits the way that I play. I would have no problem playing for Dad as he's a great coach with incredible understanding of the game."
Clarke has a team oriented approach as he likes to focus on rebounding and shot blocking. He considers himself to be an all round competitor who likes to dive for loose balls and hustles on defense. At the recent Nor Cal Summer Tip Off at City College of San Francisco, Clarke displayed a good mid range game and moved his feet well during offensive sets. In addition to playing for Lakeshow during the summer, he is working hard on his ball handling, overall perimeter shooting, and hitting the weights.
Even though English is the common language of his two homes, Clark says about the challenges and differences of being in America versus Australia, "Probably moving to the other side of the world from Australia last August and having to leave behind all my friends and extended family and sporting teams who I all had very close relationships with."
Last season, the Cougars were a senior laden team with eight seniors. The upcoming season returns 2015 guard Matt O'Reilly and 2015 forward Chris Hansen (6-foot-7 and was the MVP of the DFAL) who will complement the 2016 Clarke. With Clarke rising from down under, expect the Cougars to make another postseason run in Moraga, Calif.
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