Kihei Clark, with Steph Curry looking on, played himself into an NBA camp invite

You could forgive the guards in last night’s Virginia-Virginia Tech for being a bit nervous, given who was at courtside.

With Steph Curry joining Golden State Warriors teammate Ty Jerome, a 2019 UVA Basketball alum, in the front row, it was like an audition for the guys who want to make a living at basketball.

Kihei Clark, the fifth-year who started alongside Jerome on the 2019 national-championship team, probably made the best case for himself.

Clark is a long shot as an NBA prospect mainly because of his size – 5’9”, 165 pounds.

He’s not going to get any taller, but he’s been consistently progressing as a baller since he arrived on Grounds in 2018, and is having his best season as a super senior, averaging a career-high 11.5 points and 5.9 assists per game this season, on career-best 44.1 percent shooting from the floor and 38.5 percent shooting from three-point range.

Last night, in Virginia’s 78-68 win over Virginia Tech, Clark had 20 points, on 7-of-14 shooting, 2-of-5 from three, and five assists in 35 minutes.

He conceded afterward that there were some nerves with the two-time MVP and four-time NBA champ Curry at courtside.

“That’d be a little bit, but no, I mean, you go out and you just, you know, you try to play your game and take the opportunities as they come, but obviously it gives a little extra motivation with him on the sideline,” Clark said.

Clark’s play in the win even overshadowed his backcourt-mate, Reece Beekman, a projected first-round draft pick, who had 11 points and seven assists, and punctuated a solid first half for UVA with a vicious throwdown just before the halftime buzzer that got fans, Curry and Jerome included, out of their seats.

Beekman had the flash, but it was Clark who consistently broke down Virginia Tech with his dribble-drives, rim runs and dishes to teammates who found themselves open because of Clark drawing their defenders his way.

“We were shooting the ball fairly well, we were getting different kinds of varied shots, and Kihei just took advantage of some good drives, and he made some real clever plays,” said Virginia coach Tony Bennett, another smallish (5’11”) point guard who went on to a run in the NBA.

“I mean, sometimes it’s not the offense, it’s just guys making shots, making plays. And then you mix in the offense with the ball security. But um, but no, he was, he was really good tonight,” Bennett said.

Count Virginia Tech coach Mike Young among those who hopes there isn’t somebody in the athletics department at UVA working on some way to find another year of eligibility for Clark to continue doing what he does to break ACC opponents down.

“He’s more explosive this year, and he looks a little bigger and stronger. You know what high regard we hold that young person in, in our camp. But boy, he’s got to, he’s got a slow-to-fast that is, wow,” Young said.

Young said his game plan was to make Clark finish plays, and Clark, as Bennett alluded, took the responsibility on.

All five of Clark’s makes inside the three-point line were driving layups; basically, he finished plays.

With the upgrade in scoring options around Clark this year, coaches like Clark have to sort of pick their poison in that respect.

“Bennett is going to put (Jayden) Gardner up here in the slot around the elbow, OK, or (Ben) Vander Plas, who can really step away from it, or Gardner, who’s going to slide across the lane, and Clark’s going to throw that thing, and Gardner’s automatic from 15, and gets his head and shoulders by you,” Young said.

“That’s what the ball screen is designed to do, you know, away he goes. That’s all I’m gonna say, that’s all I’m gonna say on it,” Young said. “We wanted him to finish some things, he’s unbelievable, and we did it in the first half. One time, Darius Maddox came over, and, pow, right down to the other side to (Armaan) Franklin, I believe it was for a for a layup, and he’s, he’s waiting on you. He is waiting for somebody to blink, and when you do, lob to (Kadin) Shadrick underneath, to Gardner in one of those.”

I keep harping on this, been doing this for five years now, but there are still people who consider themselves Virginia fans who wonder what Bennett’s fascination with Clark is, like Clark is some kind of pet project.

There’s literally not a national championship banner hanging in the rafters at the John Paul Jones Arena if not for Kihei Clark.

And kid showed last night that he’s an NBA-level player, in front of one of the guys in the conversation for GOAT.

Those in the Ki-hater set should be ashamed of themselves.

“He’s such a competitor, Kihei is, and, you know, he’s just like Ty. When you look across the court, you see him, you know, and then you think of Kihei, they’re an important part of the fabric of this program and what’s taken place, and hopefully what will continue,” Bennett said.

“You know, a guy his size doesn’t get to where he is without having a fierce side of him,” Bennett said. “He’s a competitor, and he wants to win, and that’s what he’s done most of his career. And he’s still coachable. And, you know, again, good to have him back for sure. I’m glad he made that decision.”