Tracking Gary Clark In The AAC Rookie Of The Year Race

The Cincinnati Bearcats are 14-5 and on the whole playing fairly well for a team with new faces all over the roster. This past offseason Mick Cronin and his staff effectively hit the reset button. Gone were senior leaders Sean Kilpatrick, Titus Rubles, and Justin Jackson, replaced by a hodgepodge of true freshmen and junior college transfers.

It was unclear just how the massive turnover would affect this team and so far the results have been mixed. On the one hand, they’ve beaten 19th ranked San Diego State, upper tier ACC NC State on the road, and the preseason AAC title favorite SMU. On the other, they were run out of their own building by VCU and dropped frustrating road games to UConn and Memphis. This team for better or worse has been inconsistent game to game this year, not uncommon for a team with so many fresh faces.

One mark of consistency among the newbies has been Gary Clark. Averaging 7.8 points (3rd on the team) and 7.3 rebounds per game (1st on the team), the true freshman couldn’t be a bigger surprise. Sure Clark averaged a double-double in high school and even once notched a quadruple-double but I don’t think anyone could have imagined he would have adapted so seamlessly to collegiate play.

But has his performance been strong enough to earn AAC Rookie of the Year honors? Maybe.

The front runner coming into this season was Daniel Hamilton, the preseason pick for AAC Rookie of the Year. But since then Gary Clark and others have surpassed him in several categories.

Points Per Game

1. B.J. Taylor (UCF): 14.1
2. B.J. Tyson (East Carolina): 12.4
3. Adonys Henriquez (UCF): 11.1
4. Daniel Hamilton (UConn): 10.1
5. Gary Clark (Cincinnati): 7.8

Rebounds Per Game

1. Gary Clark (Cincinnati): 7.3
2. Daniel Hamilton (UConn): 6.3
3. Dylan Osetkowski (Tulane): 4.6
4. B.J. Tyson (East Carolina): 4.4
5. Bo Zeigler (USF): 4.3

True Shooting Percentage*

1. Adonys Henriquez (UCF): 61.0%
2. Gary Clark (Cincinnati): 54.5%
3. B.J. Taylor (UCF): 53.3%
4. B.J. Tyson (East Carolina): 51.8%
5. Daniel Hamilton (UConn): 48.1%

*Shooting percentage including free throws, two-pointers, and threes.

Minutes Per Game

1. Adonys Henriquez (UCF): 35.0
2. B.J. Taylor (UCF): 31.5
3. Daniel Hamilton (UConn): 30.4
4. Gary Clark (Cincinnati): 27.6
5. B.J. Tyson (East Carolina): 24.3

Offensive Rating (Points Per Possession*100)

1. Adonys Henriquez (UCF): 114.9
2. Gary Clark (Cincinnati): 112.7
3. B.J. Taylor (UCF): 111.5
4. Dylan Osetkowski (Tulane):110.4
5. B.J. Tyson (East Carolina): 104.2

Plucking out a handful of categories, Gary Clark is keeping pace with the other freshman in the conference.

Cincinnati’s power forward is leading all first year collegiate players with 7.3 boards per game, a full rebound more than the next best player, UConn’s Hamilton. The feat is all the more impressive considering he’s fourth among freshman in court time each game. Imagine if Clark was getting Adonys Henriquez or even B.J. Taylor’s minutes. However, interim head coach Larry Davis has opted to regularly sub in fellow freshman Quadri.

Clearly Clark is taking advantage of the minutes he’s allotted, ranking second in offensive rating and true shooting percentage. Being a forward helps with the latter, as shots from the paint have a better chance of going in than those from beyond the arc, which guards Henriquez, Taylor, and B.J. Tyson are prone to take. On the flip side, threes are worth more than twos, arguably pulling down Clark’s points per game average.

At this point I’d say Cincinnati’s horse in the race has as good a shot to win AAC Rookie of the Year honors as any of the primary contenders. The front runner appears to be Central Florida’s Adonys Henriquez with Clark, Hamilton, and Taylor right behind him. But things can easily change. If Clark can earn more minutes, signifying how much Cincinnati leans on the freshman, and boosts his scoring production he could walk away with the award this season.