Kihei Does His Thing While Blocking Out the Noise

By Jerry Ratcliffe

COLUMBIA, S.C. — He heard all the whispers. Got it second-hand about the harsh criticism of his game on social media.

Shouldn’t be starting. Opponents don’t guard him because he’s no threat to score. Can’t defend a taller shooter on the perimeter. On and on. You get the picture.

None of it prevented 5-foot-9 Kihei Clark from perhaps being the most valuable player in Virginia’s comeback win over Gardner-Webb in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.

Clark’s numbers were not eye-popping, but were possibly the most impressive three steals, four assists, one 3-pointer, five rebounds game you’ll ever see. Not accounted for were all the tipped balls or chased down loose balls that Clark influenced.

His lone basket of the game, a huge 3-pointer that drew the struggling No. 1 seed to within two baskets of upset-minded 16 seed Gardner-Webb to end the first half, restored some order before the break. His hustle was inspirational.

Close observers will tell you that UVA might not have won Friday had it not been for Clark’s play, and today’s headlines would read quite differently about the nightmares of March.

Instead, Clark was a silent hero. He doesn’t seek glory. The freshman from California just wants to contribute, wants to win.

Social media? Doesn’t pay attention to it. He chooses to block out the noise. Those who truly know the game, know how Tony Bennett builds his teams, understand.

Clark isn’t a big-time scorer. Perhaps he never will be, but he doesn’t need to put up numbers now. That’s what Kyle Guy, Ty Jerome and De’Andre Hunter are for.

Clark’s role is quite different. He’s there to protect the ball, possessions are precious. He’s there to distribute to the scorers and not turn it over. Defensively, he’s there to pressure. Outside opinions don’t matter.

“I don’t read that stuff,” Clark said before Saturday’s practice for Sunday’s second-round matchup against Oklahoma. “Some people tell me that people on Twitter talk about me, but I don’t pay attention to it. People are going to say what they’re going to say but I’m still going to play my game and put in as much work as possible.”

A portion of Virginia’s fan base, which tend to panic at the slightest sign of disaster, have been on Clark for much of the past few weeks. They don’t see what Bennett sees.

“He’s been so valuable,” Bennett said Saturday. “You can’t concern yourself with the opinion of others. He’s helped us. He guards the ball hard. He scraps and he’s made some good offensive plays for us, gives us a dimension that we haven’t had in a long time (Bub Evans days).”

When UVA faces certain opponents that feature elite quickness, Bennett is comforted in knowing that Clark can set the Cavaliers’ defense with good ball pressure.

Backcourt mate Kyle Guy quickly chipped in about Clark: “He’s picking up full court for 33 games now … you don’t see me doing that. He’s a selfless player. He doesn’t care about stats. He does a lot of little things that help us win.”

Bennett also pointed out that the diminutive, but quicksilver guard can touch the paint, and that his competitiveness, his grit to not back down is contagious.

When Bennett received scouting reports from his staff about Clark’s AAU play during the Californian’s pre-senior summer season, then heard Clark had decommitted from UC-Davis, he decided to call Davis coach Jim Les to check things out.

After Les told him the kid was legit, Bennett went into full pursuit mode and landed the future point guard.

Clark had a breakout summer of EYBL hoops and decided to seek a higher destination.

“I wanted to see how high I can play,” said Clark, who hails from Woodland Hills, Calif. “I love competition and I just wanted to prove to everybody that I could play basketball at the highest level. That’s the reasons I decided to go somewhere else.”

Virginia was first in, but soon Gonzaga, UCLA, Utah, Georgia Tech, and others jumped on. Too late. The temptation of playing in the ACC — the nation’s best basketball in Clark’s mind — and playing for Bennett and his staff was overwhelming. He knew Bennett had played guard, was under 6-foot, had played in the NBA, and could teach him.

His main job is to not turn the ball over and to not give up anything easy on defense. Everything else is a bonus.

“I value each possession,” Clark said. “You can’t turn the ball over a lot. Ty has helped me making the right reads on the offensive end or how to play a guy on defense.

“I know I don’t have to score a lot, but I’ve got to shoot my open shot because that’s probably going to be one of the better looks we’re going to get during any given possession, so I just have to shoot that shot with confidence.”

Against Gardner-Webb, Clark was willing to do whatever it required to contribute.

“I was just trying to do my job on the team,” he said. “I don’t score a lot of points. I just try to get my team as many possessions as possible, whether it’s taking a charge, getting a knock away, getting a steal. Anything I can do to help my team win.”

Those are qualities that not only Bennett admires but so does Clark’s teammates, guys he looks up to like Jerome and Guy.

“Yeah, Kihei may not be scoring the most points every night, but he’s a very valuable player on this team,” Guy said Saturday. “The little things he does is kind of Isaiah Wilkins-esque. Obviously, he’s not as big as anybody on the court, but he does some important things.”

Wilkins was one of UVA’s captains in 2017-18 and was ACC Defensive Player of the Year, also a guy who didn’t necessarily score much, but did so many other important things during the course of a game that had a major impact.

Not only has Clark learned from Guy, but also from Jerome, who learned from London Perrentes. Jerome’s trying to pay it forward with his understudy. Clark said he picks Jerome’s brain, attempting to absorb as much point-guard knowledge as possible.

“I think Kihei has grown so much from Day One,” Jerome said. “I think his biggest asset to this team is his selflessness. He could care less how much he scores. He’s just all about winning.”

Jerome, the veteran, knows that players coming right out of high school to college basketball’s big leagues have a tendency to be sloppy with the ball because they have a big leash in preps play. Under Jerome’s tutelage, Clark has a greater understanding of valuing every single possession.

Clark couldn’t ask for a better role model. Jerome ranks sixth in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (166 assists, 51 turnovers, 3.45). Jerome is 43rd in assists nationally.

Having played less minutes, Clark has 77 assists to 33 turnovers and had a seven-game stretch coming into NCAA play where he didn’t commit a single turnover in six of those games.

He is shooting 33 percent from the field and 32 percent from the arc, numbers that will likely improve over time, but is an effective free-throw shooter (81 percent) should he get sent to the line.

“We have certain plays where he’ll bring the ball up … he’ll play the point-guard position on certain plays that don’t involve ball screens, and then the plays that do involve ball screens,” Jerome said. “He’ll ask me if I want the ball. He’s just super selfless.

“He’s all about winning. He’s all about the team. He’ll give up his body for the team. Sometimes we have to tell him to be more aggressive, but he’s just a great teammate and an ultra-competitor.”

Clark is delighted to be part of the ride and to be learning from Jerome and Guy along the way.

“I think they’re one of the best duos in the country,” Clark said. “They make my job easier, the way they move off screens, and the way they hit shots, and the way Ty comes off screens and makes passes and how he reads.”

Blast away if you must, rip Clark all you want. He doesn’t care. Bennett doesn’t care. They understand his role, his value, his importance to the team and no outside criticism is ever going to change how they operate.

As Jerome said, it’s just noise.