Former Kentucky commit Skyy Clark leaves Illinois

Skyy Clark‘s basketball journey has taken yet another turn, this time parting ways with the Illinois Fighting Illini midway through his freshman campaign.

The former four-star recruit out of Los Angeles originally committed to Kentucky back in October of 2020. He later backed away from his pledge 17 months later in March of 2022.

“I just really wanted to step back and assess myself and my options and see if it was still the best situation for me,” he told KSR at the time of his decommitment. “What I’ve learned is basketball is more than a game now, it’s a business. I just want to do what’s best for me going forward.”

Clark announced his commitment to Illinois just one month later, joining a recruiting class that included four-star, top-150 signees Ty Rodgers, Jayden Epps and Sencire Harris. The Illini also added some heavy hitters out of the transfer portal, namely Terrence Shannon Jr. from Texas Tech and Matthew Mayer from Baylor — two of the top available players this offseason.

The season got off to a strong start, winning seven of the team’s first nine games, including two top-10 victories over No. 8 UCLA and No. 2 Texas. Since then, though, the Illini have lost three of their last five, all losses against high-major competition.

As for Clark individually, he has averaged 7.0 points on 41.1% shooting and 33.3% from three to go with 3.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.1 turnovers in 24.5 minutes per contest. He’s started in 12 games and played 13 overall for the Illini, missing the team’s win over Bethune-Cookman last week with a left shoulder injury before returning for the team’s loss at Northwestern on Wednesday.

Just two days later, the former blue-chip recruit is on his way out of Champaign and will now look for a new home.

As a recruit, Clark was rated as the No. 37 overall prospect and No. 4 point guard in the class of 2022. He previously held offers from the likes of UCLA, Kansas, North Carolina, USC, Ohio State, Michigan, Memphis, Tennessee, Arizona and Auburn during his high school recruitment.

Where will the 6-foot-3 guard land next?