Go-go Gadget: Jason Clark

This is the tenth in a series previewing the 2010-2011 Hoyas.  For a complete look at this year’s team, go here.

Previews of members of Georgetown’s freshman and sophomore classes, and even of Henry Sims, can be difficult. The freshmen have to adapt to the college level, the sophomores have to build their games and adjust to increased playing time. So, speculating about their performance in the season to come can be dicey. The remaining players, by contrast, are largely known quantities.  For example, we can guess how Julian Vaughn will play in, say, ten more minutes per game, but we also saw his development last year, and know that he can be a reliable post.

What can be difficult to remember is that today’s stalwarts were yesterday’s projects.  Jason Clark, the Hoyas’ 6’2″, 170-lb. junior shooting guard, was a role player in his first year, averaging 18 minutes, 5.3 points, and 2.6 rebounds per contest.  For every double-figure night, like he put up against Syracuse, there were goose eggs, like in a bad loss at Seton Hall.  Clark shot well from deep and played solid defense, but hadn’t yet been asked to become a major contributor.

Last season, with the graduation of Jessie Sapp, Clark was asked to step up.  He played starter’s minutes, logging 25 or more per game in every game but a few blowouts, and his production increased accordingly.  Clark averaged 10.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2 assists, and a steal and a half per contest, becoming a reliable fourth option after Greg Monroe, Austin Freeman, and Chris Wright.  His skill set is diverse: he had the third-most rebounds on the team, behind Monroe and Vaughn, but also was just two steals behind Chris Wright’s team-leading total, both of which he was able to accomplish thanks to his freakishly long arms.  he was also an efficient scorer, boasting, along with Monroe, the team’s highest true shooting percentage.  Clark could be a bit clutch: he rattled off four straight double-digit games in March, when Georgetown’s season lay in the balance.

To be sure, Clark had a number of sub-par outings.  He had zero points in 26 minutes against UConn, and turned the ball over six times in the Hoyas’ Freeman-less loss at West Virginia.  He had too many tunrovers in general, largely due to sloppy ball-handing.  He also seemed to take chances on defense, sometimes going for steals at the expense of solid positioning. But, in all, Clark made the leap the Hoyas needed in his sophomore year: he doubled his point total and his career high (24, in a marksman’s display against Villanova), while becoming an increasingly reliable contributor all around.

This year, Clark takes one more step up the seniority ladder. With Monroe gone, Clark must shoulder more of the offensive burden, and must do so consistently. There is precedent here: last season Austin Freeman and Chris Wright each went from contributors to leaders, adding to their scoring average and making the team their own. Like Wright and Freeman, Clark likely will see a slight uptick in minutes, but any increase in production largely will come in the time he already has on the court. Georgetown will need him to be a solid defensive stopper, too, and, like all of the undersized Hoyas, he must crash the boards with ferocity and consistency. By all accounts from this summer’s Kenner League, Clark’s done just that, playing intense one-on-one defense, stroking from deep, and penetrating to the basket, all with lightning speed.  In just a few days, he’ll have the opportunity to replicate those performances when it matters.