Kihei Clark isn’t a lot of things. For instance, not tall. He’s 5’9”.
The kid has been at Virginia for four years, going on five, hasn’t grown an inch.
David Robinson grew eight inches after he enrolled at Navy.
If Kihei had grown eight inches, he’d be 6’5” now.
Just sayin’.
Kihei hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since the Big 3 left, which, you know, means, whatever.
Neither did Jay Huff, Sam Hauser, Trey Murphy III, Mamadi Diakite or Braxton Key, all of whom have played in the NBA this year.
But it’s all Kihei’s fault.
It’s always Kihei’s fault.
He’s turnover-prone.
This one might be fair. I mean, he’s no Alondes Williams (who led the ACC with 127 turnovers), but Kihei’s 77 this past season led Virginia.
He can’t shoot – again, fair.
He’s a career 38.3 percent from the floor and 34.8 percent from three, and was 38.7 percent and 34.6 percent from three last year.
The returner at shooting guard, Armaan Franklin, was 39.2 percent from the floor and 29.6 percent from three.
Kihei’s shooting from three was the best among the rotation guys last year.
His 37.5 percent mark from behind the arc was the best mark on the 2019-2020 team.
There I go again, with stats and data.
He also gets a fair amount of his shots blocked. Like the one that ended the season, down 52-51 to St. Bonaventure.
Why is the guy taking the ball to the rim there?
It’s on him that Reece Beekman fouled out with 1:38 to go. He obviously hoodwinked Tony Bennett into deciding in the final timeout to get him the ball to try to create a play.
The other guys not getting somebody open: that was Kihei.
Him taking the ball to the rim with no other options as the final seconds counted down: classic Kihei, doing too much.
He’s hit a dagger before – at Virginia Tech back in 2020. And passed on a couple – at UNC in 2020, one in a game in Louisville against a Purdue team that wasn’t technically a dagger, because all it did was send the game to OT.
Yeah, yeah, a couple of lucky plays went his way.
And then on the other end, he’s a defensive liability, amirite?
Sure, the story goes that he earned minutes as a freshman because he was such a pest in practice on Ty Jerome that Ty once (at least once) flung a ball at his face in frustration.
But, come on, the kid is 5’9”. Bigger guys can see over him.
(Ty Jerome is 6’5”.)
Giving him minutes next year is going to hinder the development of the new class coming in.
Which doesn’t have a point guard. There’s no other point guards on the roster.
Details.
You could find another point guard on the transfer portal.
Maybe not one with a national championship and four years of starting in the system on his resume, but another point guard, most definitely.
You guys have made your point.
I just can’t figure out what Tony is thinking here.
We could have a 6’5” NBA-ready point guard who doesn’t turn the ball over, shoots the lights out, never falters in the clutch, plays defense like a glove, has a championship resume.
And here I’ve been trying to sell you on Kihei Clark, as if you’re lucky to have him.
Story by Chris Graham
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Chris Graham
