Jack Clark is out indefinitely for NC State basketball
NC State basketball confirmed about an hour before tipoff against Duke that fifth-year senior forward Jack Clark is out indefinitely. Clark has suffered what the Pack called a “core muscle” injury.
Clark, a transfer from La Salle, has started every game this season and is averaging 9.1 points and a team-high 7.3 rebounds per contest. He also leads NC State and is second in the ACC with 29 steals through 15 games for the Wolfpack.
Clark’s absence does not come at a good time, with NC State set to host the tallest and best-rebounding team in the conference in No. 16 Duke on Wednesday evening at PNC Arena in Raleigh. The Wolfpack is also without its second-leading rebounder in super senior forward Dusan Mahorcic.
Mahorcic suffered a dislocated right patella during Tuesday night’s win over Coppin State at historic Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh in December. He too has been ruled out indefinitely.
Mahorcic was averaging 8.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per game while starting all but one of 10 contests to that point for NC State. He was shooting 64.3 percent from the field (36 of 56). He, like Clark, is in his first year with the program after transferring in during the offseason following a stint at Utah.
Clark has struggled to consistently shoot three-pointers for NC State, making just 26.1 percent while connecting on 18 of 69 attempts from beyond the arc thus far this year, but on Tuesday, NC State basketball head coach Kevin Keatts was doing everything else asked of him aside from shooting better.
Clark entered the transfer portal after averaging 11.0 points and 5.4 rebounds per game over three seasons at La Salle. Clark redshirted his second season and had two years of eligibility remaining when he enrolled at NC State.
Last season, Clark, a 6-foot-8, 200-pounder from Cheltenham, Pa., contributed 12.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest. He had three games of at least 20 points, including in two of his last three contests. He had a season-high 30 points to go with eight rebounds in a win over Duquesne.
In the absence of Clark and Mahorcic, NC State is likely to call more upon sophomore forward Ernest Ross and redshirt junior forward Greg Gantt. Ross is averaging 2.5 points and 1.8 rebounds while playing 9.8 minutes per contest.
Gantt, a former Providence transfer, has struggled to stay healthy since arriving at NC State. He missed last year with a sports hernia. He’s been limited to five games this season and has scored 5 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.
NC State also signed midyear enrollee Isaiah Miranda from Pawtucket, R.I., but the On3 Consensus four-star prospect in the 2023 class has yet to play for the Wolfpack. He was in street clothes during the early portion of the Pack warmups.
