YELLOW SPRINGS — The relief on Andrew Clark’s face was evident, moments after he signed his National Letter of Intent on Wednesday, May 22 to attend Wilmington College and play basketball for the Quakers men’s basketball team.
With parents Tracy and Mitch, and brothers J.T. and Joshua sitting on either side of him, and his Bulldog basketball teammates cheering on from the side, Clark signed on NCAA Division III Signing Day.
“It was very stressful decision,” Clark said. “It’s good to have it behind me now.”
Clark said he chose Wilmington over several other NCAA D-III schools that had expressed an interest, including Mount St. Joseph, Otterbein, Bluffton and Ohio Wesleyan. He said a visit to the Wilmington campus sold him on the Quakers program.
“I really liked the coach when I was talking with him and had visited there, at first,” Clark said, “and when I went back for an open gym, I met all the guys, got to play basketball with them. It was just really fun.”
Clark finished second in the Metro Buckeye Conference in scoring this past season with a 17.5 points per game average, and was a first team All-Metro Buckeye Conference selection. He scored a season-best 33 points in a Yellow Springs road win over East Dayton Christian. He scored 30 points in his final regular season game, also on the road, against Jefferson Township. Yellow Springs finished with a 5-17 record this past season.
Yellow Springs Athletic Director Nathan Baker said Clark will help set the bar for future Bulldogs basketball teams.
“The Yellow Springs Athletic Department is extremely proud of Andrew Clark for his athletic accomplishments, and we wish him the best of luck moving forward, with his academic and athletic careers at Wilmington College. Andrew was a key part of our men’s basketball program as a four-year letter winner, which included a conference championship, district championship and regional runner-up,” Baker said. “On top of team honors, he has also acquired a number of individual honors and was an outstanding leader on and off the floor. He will be greatly missed, and his fingerprint will forever be left on the Bulldogs basketball program.”
Wilmington College plays in the 10-team Ohio Athletic Conference. The Quakers men’s basketball team had an 18-14 overall record last season, finishing seventh in the OAC with a 6-12 conference mark. The team’s first league contest of the 2019-‘20 season is scheduled for Dec. 7, a home contest with Heidelberg.
