Former West Catholic star Budd Clark calls making steals ‘my calling card’ at Merrimack

Seated on his living room couch, Bernard Clark inched closer toward the television screen that displayed a basketball game between Merrimack and Stonehill.

With 21 seconds remaining in the game last Thursday evening and Merrimack trailing by one, Bernard began shouting as if he were seated in the bleachers at Stonehill’s gymnasium in Easton, Mass.

“Energy!” he belted. “Energy! Energy!”

As the game clock dwindled, Bernard’s son Adam, a former West Catholic standout and freshman point guard at Merrimack who goes by “Budd,” dribbled up the court and sized up his defender from the top of the key. Clark used a soft ball screen, crossed from his left to his right, and then pulled up from the elbow.

Swish.

Clark’s go-ahead bucket gave Merrimack a one-point lead with nine seconds left.

Back at his family’s home in West Philadelphia, Bernard was jubilant. A few moments later, Clark sank a pair of free throws and Merrimack claimed its seventh consecutive victory, 66-63. Clark finished with 29 points, including six points over the final 21 seconds. Since then, Merrimack has beaten Long Island University and is 17-10 and in first-place at 11-2 in the Northeast Conference, entering Thursday.

Clark, a six-time conference rookie of the week, continues to make his mark in his first season. Over 27 games, he’s averaging 12.9 points, 3.9 assists, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.5 steals. Clark, who is 5-foot-10, is second among Division I freshmen in total steals and ranks eighth overall.

“Getting steals and applying that pressure, it’s my calling card,” Clark said in a telephone interview. “I feel like sometimes, players get nervous bringing the rock up ‘cause they know … I’m going to pounce.”

Clark’s sticky hands developed early on while he competed in Philadelphia’s CPN youth basketball league.

“When he was 8 years old,” Bernard said, “he drew up plays on a piece of paper and came to me and said, ‘Dad, I’ve been thinking about it, and this is what we should do.’ He respects the game so much. He doesn’t like skipping steps.”

Clark started his high school career at Boys’ Latin and transferred to West Catholic as a sophomore. Although he didn’t start until his junior year, he helped establish the Burrs’ culture through his defensive prowess. As a senior, Clark led the Catholic League in steals (3.5 per game) and powered West Catholic to a District 12 Class 3A title. It marked the Burrs’ first city championship since 1953, and West ultimately captured its first state title.

“Budd, in my eyes, is legendary at West Catholic,” said sixth-year Burrs coach Miguel Bocachica. “He’s a great story, a great example for all these kids coming up behind him.”

Bocachica noted Clark’s growth over his three seasons at West Catholic.

“That’s just the dawg in him,” Bocachica said. “The basketball is like a bone. As a sophomore, he was too handsy. That’s part of the reason why he came off the bench. Budd was so handsy, he was quick for two fouls in a quarter. He eventually adjusted.

“I always made a deal with him: If he walks into the second half with no fouls, then I’ll literally look him in the eye and say, ‘Go take the ball.’ And he would do that. That was my way of encouraging him to not reach so much, so later in games he could be more aggressive defensively. But that’s something he’s always had in him.

“Going into his situation [at Merrimack], he wasn’t promised anything there. But he’s a kid that never needed any promises, he just needed an opportunity. When you’re willing to adjust and do whatever it takes to get better, good things happen. That’s kind of his story right now.”

Throughout his freshman season, Clark’s father and mother, Karen, have been limited to attending weekend games. Merrimack is located in North Andover, Mass., about 25 miles north of Boston and 325 miles from Philadelphia, about a six-hour drive in good circumstances.

“I ain’t never been away from home this long,” Clark said. “It was rough in the beginning. But this experience has been good. It’s been coming along. My teammates, the staff — everybody is trusting me as a freshman with the ball.

“Coach Boc and West Catholic held me to a high standard. So that just gives me more confidence, really, coming into my freshman season.”

Despite the distance, Bernard insisted he is always tuned in.

“Of course we would like to be there with him each and every game, but it’s just not possible,” he said. “I try to channel whatever energy that we have to him. I hope he can always remember that.

“Every game I come to, I always yell across the floor, ‘Energy, energy, energy!’ Because that’s what is most important. It’s what we live by. The energy you give out, it comes back.

“That’s how Adam plays, and we love it. We love his energy.”