By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

For the second time this year as he makes his transition from the University of Akron to the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Garvin Clarke has been named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West Athlete of the Week.

The latest honour was announced by the league on Monday afternoon, following his initial weekly honour that the point guard earned on December 11.

“First of all, I want to thank God for the opportunity he gave me to play the sport,” said Clarke, the son of Tamika and Garvin Clarke Sr. “I also want to thank the coaching staff for believing in me and also my team-mates for trusting me and giving me confidence.”

When he was awarded the first honour, Clarke said he was surprised. But he said he expected this one because of the work he put into it with head coach Joe Lombardi and the coaching staff of the Crimson Hawks.

“It feels great to do it again. My coach and I put in the work,” Clarke said. “It’s not that we went into it expecting to get it. It just happened. So I’m just thankful.”

Coming off an appearance on the Bahamas men’s national basketball team that advanced last year to the qualifying round of the Olympic Games, Clarke helped lead IUP to a 2-0 week in divisional action, picking up a 73-72 road win at Pitt-Johnstown before a 72-60 triumph against Edinboro.

The 22-year-old sports communications major averaged 28.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists in those two games, playing all 40 minutes in both outings. Scoring a combined 57 points, he shot 56.8% from the field and picked up seven steals during that outstanding stretch for the Crimson Hawks last week.

“I got started on the rough side of coming into a new programme, trying to figure out what the team needed me to do,” Clarke said.

“But as the season progressed, I started to figure it out. My role is to be the best team-mate that I can be on and off the court and just perform at a high level.

“This is division one so I have to perform at a high level and so I hope that I can continue to perform that way the rest of the season.”

Clarke began the week with 27 points, 10 rebounds and three assists for a double-double at UPJ on January 17.

He followed it up with a career-high 30 points (10-15 FG), four rebounds and six assists in the victory against Edinboro on January 20.

Hitting his stride during his first season with the Crimson Hawks as a transfer from Akron, Clarke enters the week third in the PSAC in assists/game (5.1), third in assist/turnover ratio (+2.06), third in steals/game (2.29) and third in minutes/ game (36:35).

“This team is pretty good. I love the team. Me and my team-mates are pretty close,” Clarke stated. “I feel like we are a family here. So I just feel pretty confident with myself and my team.”

IUP is set for a busy stretch over the next 10 days, set for four PSAC West matchups in that span. The Crimson Hawks begin the week with a road trip to Seton Hill on Wednesday, January 24 before hosting rivals Slippery Rock (January 27) and California (Pa.) (January 29) at the KCAC.

“I’m just looking forward to competing at a high level and come February and March, we will continue playing the way we are playing and even better,” Clarke said.

The goal, he indicated, is to be a part of the March Madness Basketball Tournament, the biggest division one collegiate tournament in the United States.

As for his personal commitment to the team, Clarke said he needs to work a little more on his jump shot.

“I have been putting up more shots, but I’m also working on my three-ball,” said Clarke of shooting from behind the three-point arc to make him an even more lethal weapon in the backcourt.

Clarke, now in his junior year, left the Bahamas in the eighth grade at Kingsway Academy for the United States to enrol at Euclid School then Cleveland Heights. He then played for the Akron Zips where he suited up in 80 games, averaging 12.3 minutes/game and scored 200 points before he made the transfer to IUP.

Last summer, he got the opportunity to play with Bahamian National Basketball Association (NBA) players Chavano “Buddy” Hield, Deandre Ayton and newcomer Eric Gordon as they won the FIBA Americas Tournament to qualify for the Olympic Games’ Qualifying Tournament in Argentina.

The Bahamas Basketball Federation is now preparing the team that will go to the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Spain from July 2-7 with the view of qualifying for the Olympics, set for July 26 to August 11 in Paris, France.

Clarke is hoping that his performances in college will enable him to be considered once again to the team selection by the coaching staff, led by Chris DeMarco, an assistant coach of the Golden State Warriors.