Clark Slajchert’s back on track, which could boost Penn down the stretch

After losses to Yale and Brown, Penn is 1-8 in the Ivy League, three games back of fourth place. If it can’t clear that hurdle, the program will miss the Ivy League tournament — established in 2017 — for the first time.

But while straits might look dire with only five games to go, the Quakers have gained a massive boost in the form of senior guard Clark Slajchert.

Slajchert, Penn’s leading scorer (17.5 points per game), was sidelined with an ankle injury for the first six games of Ivy play and returned to the lineup in Penn’s road tilt at Princeton on Feb. 10.

His reemergence has given Penn some much-needed hope as it enters the final stretch of the regular season. It’s also given Slajchert one last chance to finish his college career on a high note.

Slajchert was hurt early in Penn’s Dec. 30 game at No. 3 Houston, and, for four weeks, his treatment consisted of ice, muscle stimulation machines, and other methods to try to expedite his recovery. A week before his eventual return, he began doing strengthening exercises and running, and the turnaround was complete. Mostly.

Slajchert admits he’s still not quite 100%, and in his first three games back, he still felt the lingering effects of the injury.

“I just felt a little worse than I would have expected my first game back to be, but I didn’t really know what to expect,” he said after Friday’s game. “The pounding on it [the ankle] is hard. And it’s psychological, too, trying to act like the pain is not there. You have to fight through pain in order to play well, but it’s still really there.”

» READ MORE: In back-to-back losses, Penn’s already dwindling postseason aspirations just got a lot dimmer

At Princeton, Slajchert chipped in 10 points, six rebounds, and three assists over 35 minutes. Against Yale, he scored 12 points and notched five rebounds over the same amount of time. He broke through against Brown with 32 points in 37 minutes.

From Penn coach Steve Donahue’s perspective, it wasn’t perfect, but he was impressed by Slajchert’s will.

“There was some rust,” Donahue said. “But I admire his motor and his toughness and playing through good and bad. It’s just Clark trying to get back into game mode. It’s really difficult.”

Going forward, Slajchert will continue to rehab the ankle. Mentally, he wants to focus on simply controlling what he can control.

“It’s not about looking good, it’s about how I can help the team,” he said. “If I’m not 100%, I can still help the guys as best I can and continue to get better. So just kind of having a team-first attitude, mentally.”

Regardless of whether Penn can keep its playoff bid alive, Slajchert will be playing his final game as a Quaker in the coming weeks.

He’ll cap a three-year run (his freshman season was canceled because of COVID-19) in which he was consistently one of Penn’s primary scorers and one of the focal points in the Quakers’ back-to-back Ivy tournament appearances.

“I love this team [and] my teammates so much. This program means a lot to me,” Slajchert said. “It meant a lot to me to be our leader this year, and I learned a lot from these guys.”