SportsPrep Live

Speaker 1 0:00
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Speaker 2 0:17
Hey everybody, and welcome to another episode of sports prep live, prep live, where we unbox the mic and talk excellence in athletics.

Speaker 2 0:35
What's up everybody and welcome back to sports prep live. I'm your host, Greg and Prescott and today we have our guests calling in all the way from Iowa. He played basketball at the collegiate level and had himself a very impressive career. Now he's a proud father of three, his oldest played football at Iowa State. The youngest is now at Creighton in the middle child goes by the name of Caitlin Clark. I'd like to welcome Mr. Brent Clark to the show. It's a pleasure to have you Brent, Welcome to Sports prep live.

Speaker 3 1:04
Thanks. Great. It's been a pleasure. Appreciate the ask. And obviously, it's been nice to follow your career as a as a young boy now to know a team who's done a great job on the mic for a number of years.

Speaker 2 1:20
Thank you. We've got plenty to cover here today. So let's let's get started. For some background information. I've known Mr. Clark since I was about nine years old, just going to the local high school basketball games. And but it has been quite a while since we last had a real conversation. So my first question is simple. How are things going? Give me a little update. It's been probably two and a half years now since we last spoke. And I'm sure it's been a very busy couple of years. So how are things give me a little update?

Speaker 3 1:51
Well, things are great. I think you said the right. The right word there when you say busy. It's certainly been, you know, an enjoyable time for us not just obviously following Caitlin's career. But you mentioned our older son Blake was a football player at Iowa State and then our younger son Colin, played at Dallin Catholic High School here in West Des Moines, Iowa. So as you can imagine, the last two or three years have been chock full of a football, basketball, and even some track and field when you when you think of Colin, yeah.

Speaker 2 2:27
All right. So in the intro, I touched a little bit on your collegiate career. But let's take it back a little bit further. Tell me a little bit about how you were introduced to sports and what sports kind of captured your interest the most from a young age?

Speaker 3 2:45
That's a great question. I think. I guess from my earliest memories, all I can think of doing is really playing sports. When I think of maybe the first organized sport that I competed in, it would have been I grew up in a town just south of Des Moines, Iowa Indianola and I in the summers spent some time running track for the local you know, recreation Parks and Recreation Association. So when I kind of looked back at that, I think, you know, track and field was was really important, I think and in helping me learn to run correctly and obviously develop you know, a lot of elements that were important for the various other sports I ended up playing at a young age which were you know, baseball, basketball, flag football then of course track and field so I think it was really foundational for me and that's just one element of my childhood that even today I I'm kind of thankful for because I think I was eight years old and that was really my first organized sport was track and field so I think learning proper running technique and things of that nature really benefited all the different sports that I played, you know, throughout high school and then into college.

Speaker 2 4:14
So how many I believe you played what for sports in high school? Is that right?

Speaker 3 4:20
That's correct. Yeah, I grew up in my high school years were another early to mid 80s. So you know, back then there was no such thing as it really clubs sports. So it was is very much a defined you know, year when you think of the various sports that I competed in football was in the fall. Obviously winter was or was the time for basketball spring was track and field and then something kind of unique for our state is that Iowa plays their baseball, their high school baseball season, really in the summertime which is nice. I think to this day, we might be the only sport high school sport, where baseball is played in the summer. Okay.

Speaker 2 5:09
So in your high school years, were there any moments or achievements that really stood out to you that you'd look back on with a little bit of pride?

Speaker 3 5:19
Well, certainly, I think, you know, the one thing that sticks in my head and you know, growing up in a relatively small city in Iowa, I mean, you were you were competing really with your best friends. So these are the same friends that I grew up with, from really my earliest memories. So we were competing, not only against each other from from an early age, but mentally we were teammates, you know, at the high school level. And I think the things that I'm most proud of, we won a conference championship in basketball. And we did the same in baseball a couple of times as well. So, you know, I know, you know, today, maybe conference, chat titles aren't quite as special as they once were. But back then, that meant a lot, I think, to us to our school. And, you know, even to this day, it's something that my buddies, you know, from high school still talk about, we obviously have great memories, but we also have a lot of laughs, too, about just, you know, certain plays certain moments, you know, over the course of our time in high school. Yeah,

Speaker 2 6:28
that's awesome. So fast forwarding to college. In college at Simpson, you are a two sport athlete basketball and baseball. And in the realm of basketball, you made first team and second team all conference in your four years. So tell me a little bit about that journey. And how did you balance the rigors of playing too time consuming sports in college?

Speaker 3 6:52
That was one element of my decision to play at a smaller division three school was it it really enabled me to play two sports. You know, as I mentioned earlier, having played for sports in high school, it's really all I knew. Knew I wanted to continue to play to and really, I would say basketball and baseball, were probably the two that I liked the most. So I think playing at the smaller college level afforded me that opportunity. You know, you don't probably have the demands that a division one sport requires, you know, certainly, back then it was a little bit different. But I think even more so today, that would be very, very hard to do. So. You know, ironically, it's probably known more as a basketball player in high school, but it's sort of flip flopped, actually in college. So where I probably had more recognition as a baseball player throughout the course of my career was actually an all conference I think, all four years. So that was sort of an A notable switch, you know, in terms of, of those two sports and even had some opportunity even at a at a small college. I was scouted by a number of major league baseball teams. Never went on to play professionally. But, you know, back then that was kind of a unique thing for a small college player. Yeah.

Speaker 2 8:25
All right. You're listening to sports prep live with Greg and Prescott and among them Mike with former two sport collegiate athlete and now proud father of three Mr. Brent Clark. So Brett, like all athletes, I'm sure you faced your fair share of challenges and setbacks. During your sports career, can you share a particularly challenging moment? And how you overcame that?

Speaker 3 8:49
You know, as I think about that question, I think the thing that sticks in my mind relates to my college career and just some of the aches and pains that sort of the sort of came along with playing to sports, particularly basketball. I endured some, I would say kind of foot pain, things of that nature, which, you know, eventually after my college career, I know one element of it was that I had a bone spur and a heel. So you know, being a small college athlete in the 80s, you really didn't have really much of a training staff, you certainly didn't have a medical staff. So, you know, that was just an element of being an athlete. At that level at that time, that kind of sticks in my mind. I think if I were at a division one school back back then I think some of those, I guess minor injuries would have been diagnosed and treated probably immediately or in the offseason. But obviously, we just didn't have those type of resources at that time in the mid to late 80s. So I think that's one challenge that I really think about a lot is that and then even in baseball from time to time, you had a, you know, a sore shoulder from throwing so much. But you know, I think if we would have some of the resources that certainly I've seen my, my children have, I think some of those elements probably would have never been as bothersome as they are today. Or as modern as they were back then. Yeah.

Speaker 2 10:28
All right. So, next question. Like I said, a couple of times, you have three kids, Blake played football at Iowa State, Caitlin, pretty good at basketball. She played it at Iowa. And then Colin played basketball and ran track in high school. With all the athletes in your household, was there sort of assembly sibling rivalry going on? Or did they kind of build each other up all the time, or a bit of both?

Speaker 3 10:54
Probably a bit of both, I don't know if rivalry is, is probably so much the right word. Obviously, there's there's competition, at all cases, whether that was Caitlyn, you know, trying to compete with Blake and in some of his boyfriends in the neighborhood. And then obviously, the flip of that when you think of Colin competing against Caitlyn around the house, or what have you. So you know, it's kind of an interesting dynamic. Now, certainly, Blake and Colin, are great supporters of Caitlyn. And I think they have a very caring and loving relationship to each other. But they're also, you know, they can be her biggest fans, but I think they can also be a good voice to her, you know, probably, to people that will give it to her straight, so to speak, which I think we all need from time to time. But there's no question I think just growing up and you know, I know you Gray, have your younger brother pan, I think, yeah, there's always going to be, you know, an element of competition between siblings. And that's, that's part of growing up, I had the same relationship with my younger brother. You know, you're always competitive with each other, but you're still family. So I think a lot of it, you know, really helps, maybe enhance who you are when you grow up. And I think that's just a part of molding, you know, certainly Kaitlyn into the type of competitor, and player that she is today. And I would say the same about our two sons is that you know, that competitive nature, even though they're all different in their unique ways. It does get molded quite a bit, not only within a family, but also with your friends, you know, as you grow up. Yeah,

Speaker 2 12:54
no, I completely agree. And Penn knight to this day can't stand each other when we play basketball. But yeah, that's absolutely I read a story that Caitlin and Colin played one on one against each other. And Colin ended up having to get four staples in his head. Is that accurate?

Speaker 3 13:13
That is accurate. Goodness, no, we had a little I would call it kind of a mini basketball hoop it was a standalone hoop I would it may have been a nerve for an and one type of hoop but it would probably be six, seven feet tall. That was always in our basement. And certainly maybe one of the best investments we ever made in terms of keeping our our children busy at EPA in their younger years. But yeah, that did that occur. I think Kailyn got a little aggressive pushed Colin into the sort of the, the side of a wall, which is you can imagine it's kind of has a sharp edge to it cut his head open and think he required four or five staples. But, you know, I just, I guess speaks a little bit to the competitive nature of both of them. But I don't know the dynamics that lead to that. But I can only imagine.

Speaker 2 14:09
That's awesome. All right. So Caitlin, of course, has taken the basketball world by storm. We all know breaking the NCAA scoring record winning national Player of the Year or hitting threes from 35 feet. But where did that all begin? When did you begin to see that she was going to be special in basketball and how did her journey begin?

Speaker 3 14:31
Yeah, it's a good question. You know, that's a question that I get asked on occasion from parents who have young children I think, you know, I would say with respect to Kaitlyn she was always very gifted in any sport that that she took on so, you know, I think our first organized sport was was youth soccer, and of course it was co Ed basketball and then she did softball and I even did some tennis lessons did piano for a short time. So, you know, our approach as parents was really just to give just Kailyn, but our son's exposure to, you know, the whole sports world, so to speak, we both, obviously, my wife and I both played sports. And I think that that's a strong element of, of any child's, you know, youth. So. So going back to Kailyn, I think just, you know, in any sport that she played, I'll just, I'll use basketball but I even knew at a young age, probably five or six that she certainly had a kind of a unique ability almost innate, you know, in terms of ball handling in terms of shooting the ball. I know, our first coed experience was just like a little YMCA league that may have been six games in the winter. You know, it was just not challenging to or the who was maybe at six or seven feet. And, you know, she just dribble down, pull up from the free throw line and, and make baskets. So we're really at that. At that time. You know, it was just like, well, I need to get her into something that's a little more competitive, maybe. But just to challenge her a bit more. So obviously, at that time, there weren't any girls teams, so to speak. So there were just a handful of boys teams. So we were fortunate to form a, you know, a team that included Caitlin so she really played the, the CO Ed route all the way through through fourth grade and then eventually transitioned that fifth grade to the playing with girls exclusively and you know, and here we are today. Yeah.

Speaker 2 16:52
It's great. And Prescott here on Sports prep live. And I'm talking to Brett Clark, former college basketball and baseball player and the father of NCAA basketball is living legend Caitlin Clark. So you've been with Kaitlyn every step of the way from the time she was we tall to the up until now she's tearing it up in college. So can you tell me how much time you guys spent training? And what were the things that you work working on to separate Kailyn from the rest of the girls playing basketball?

Speaker 3 17:23
I'm glad you bring that up. I think I'll go back to just the point I made I think, you know, it wasn't a situation where, you know, Caitlyn wanted to be trained exclusively in basketball at a young age. That's, you know, I think from my personal opinion, is I think exposure and then playing a variety of sports really helps the athlete when it comes to the other sport that they may be doing or the other sports they may be doing. So, you know, Caitlyn sort of made a conscious decision in fifth grade that said, you know, she said, Hey, I don't want to continue playing softball, I like to focus and do more basketball in the summertime. And that's, that's when we started that transition to the club environment. You know, she clearly had a great love for basketball. And I would say, soccer was her her second sport. And she did that all the way through her sophomore year in high school. But basketball has always been her first love, I think moving her to her club team, which is part of the Nike EY BL circuit. All Iowa attack was was a natural for us. We had a couple of nieces, Neely and Audrey Faber who had had been in the program, or were in the program at that time. And so we had a good I guess, feeling about it, we knew the circuit and the competition level was going to be the highest, you know, at the national level. So obviously, Caitlyn, you know, grew up in that program. And I think that's certainly a big part of her development when you're competing against some of the best players in your state at practice. And then of course, you're you're competing against the best players in the country. You know, when you go to these various national tournaments, and really an element that I think just enabled her to really grow and I would say maybe even evolved her game year to year she was always playing up two or three grade levels. So certainly, that was a challenge for her but it was one that she always met. And, you know, it's kind of interesting. She was actually on their top national team before her first day of high school. So I think that just speaks to, you know, her capabilities, her skill level. You know, she was playing with girls that were essentially seniors in high school when she was becoming a freshman in high school. So I think that's prepared her well, you know, you know, when she took that step from high school into college as a freshman, you know, she sort of sort of hit the ground running with her first game. Yeah. And, you know, I would, you know, I would hope that that will be the case when she steps to the next level on the top level, which is the WNBA.

Speaker 2 20:23
Yeah, I remember watching that various game, she had a great game in college. So you spoke a lot about EY BL. And during that timeframe, Caitlyn was playing in the FIBA Basketball World Cup, she was playing in EY, BL. And then also, this was around the same time that she made her decision for college. So with all of that going on, in a very short amount of time, what was that? Like? What was that process? Like? And what do you recall the most from that time?

Speaker 3 20:56
would say it was just part of our journey. I mean, certainly, it was a whirlwind. If you think about some of the commitments you have to make, to to, to try out for a USA basketball team, you know, that involves, you know, missing some school. I know, early on in that process, he was also missing some of her high school soccer matches. You know, but that's certainly a great honor. And the fact that she's earned or been part of teams that have won three, you know, gold medals, is certainly a special memory. I know, for us as, as parents and a family. And obviously, for her as a player. You know, the EY BL league certainly prepares anyone out for the best level of competition. And, and it's probably fair to say that, you know, basketball in the United States is the best in the world. So, you know, you could probably have, in some cases, sometimes a more competitive tournament, you know, by probably breaking the country up into regions, and just, you know, having your own sort of national tournament that certainly would, would provide any athlete with great competition and the ability to sort of up their game. So I think, I think those two really went hand in hand. I mean, you think of her club level team being on the EY BL circuit, and obviously, that prepared her well for USA basketball. And, you know, I don't think Caitlin would change it for the world, it's been a great experience, as she's developed a huge network of, you know, he mates who have become her friends, you know, competitors, who have become her friends. And, obviously, she has met a lot of important coaches and other personnel, you know, kind of along the way that you know, that she can kind of, you know, rely upon going forward as well.

Speaker 2 23:12
So, also, your son, Blake, he had a pretty successful college football career. But in his time as a player, I noticed that a lot of his peers would seek his advice. And he kind of took up a coaching role on the team. So is there a future in coaching football for Blake, or is that something that he just did during his time in college?

Speaker 3 23:36
No, I thought that I mean, he would be a great coach, you know, in some respects, obviously, he was, you know, a backup quarterback at Iowa State, and then he was the holder for for his final four seasons there. But I think, you know, one thing about him is that he has a great presence about him. He's a great leader. And I think he's a strong voice. I think anytime you have 100 plus, teammates, I'm sure coaches are looking to players who can lead and I think the coaching staff I know he's he has a great relationship with the head coach, Matt Campbell, that continues to this day, but and I think for Blake, I think he was he's very proud of that. He spent five years in the Iowa State program, but I think he's also someone who's very curious and, and really intelligent. He's got a master's in industrial engineering and works for Chevron, which is a large global oil and petroleum company, so seems to enjoy you know, that challenge, and he's transitioned really to the professional world quite well. And you know, I've always thought he'd be a good coach. I don't know. You know, maybe someday he'll be a youth coach like his dad, but right now, I think he's just enjoying the challenge of being a professional a business person.

Speaker 2 25:01
Yeah, it's great and Prescott here on Sports prep live. And I'm on the mic with Mr. Brent Clark, former collegiate basketball and baseball player father of three, and the father of NCAA basketballs greatest player Caitlin Clark. So as we wind down this interview here, we know that what Caitlin has accomplished in her college career, I mean, National Championship appearance Naismith Player of the Year AP Player of the Year, ESPN Player of the Year, she's won every award in the book. Now going into her final NCAA Tournament, as a parent, did you expect all of this? Or did you expect her to succeed at this level that nobody has ever reached before? Or did it kind of catch you by surprise?

Speaker 3 25:49
Well, I think it would be certainly it's been humbling. I mean, when you think of all the recognitions, that she's earned, not just as really not even for just the sport of basketball, but you know, maybe as a, you know, the athlete of the year and even an Academic Team Leader of the Year, I mean, those are, you know, elements that I don't think you think about, you know, I, you know, I think Caitlyn certainly puts in the work, she works hard. I think that is just a reflection of all the hard work that she puts in, you know, am I surprised? You know, in a humble sense, I say this, I'll have to say no, simply because I know she works hard. I mean, there are times when I think she should take time off, and she does not. So she certainly has the motivation, and maybe more importantly, the love and passion for what she does. Like No Other probably like no other person that I'm around on a on a day to day or close basis. So, so very proud of her. Certainly, I mean, obviously, if anyone watched the big 10 championship game, and she had obviously a difficult first half, but I told her after the game that might have been one of my more prouder moments of her because he fought through that adversity, you know, she was struggling, you know, making making shots, and then comes back and puts 30 on the board in the second half. And that's obviously a, you know, a component to certainly winning that game and over time, so you know, I think she's just the type of person that's always been very consistent, very driven. And I think her passion is, is just that, that other ingredient that you need to be, you know, such a good player.

Speaker 2 27:43
Yeah, absolutely. All right, finally, Brent, last question here for any young aspiring athlete looking to make it into college? What is one piece of advice you would give to those youngsters?

Speaker 3 27:57
Obviously do the work, right. I think, you know, ignore your critics, if you have any, or and really, sometimes that critic can be your own mind. Right? If you don't believe that you can achieve something you probably won't. So, you know, there's a lot of a lot of people out there a lot of stories where, no, I think people have persevered. And I think that's really probably what sets the good. Apart from the great, you know, don't be afraid to fail. I just had my father Allah, you know, speak to that a little bit. He said, you know, what fail actually means, right? And I said, No, not really. But it's really the first attempt in learning so FAI l first attempt in learning. So I know that made a lot of sense. And I think one thing that's, you know, we all should be unafraid of is to fail. You know, I think one thing that when you think of Caitlin, I think she is willing to always take the shot. She's not always going to make the shot, but she's willing to take the shot. And I don't know if there's a lot of people out there who are willing to put their neck out like that. So that's a unique trait, a unique sense of confidence that we really all should have, because there's nothing wrong with failing you only get better from doing it.

Speaker 2 29:29
All right. Well, thank you, Brett, for coming on to the show. It has been an absolute pleasure to have you. Thank you, everybody, for tuning into this episode of sports prep live. Catch you on the next one. And as always, everybody have a great day. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of sports prep live. I'm grading Prescott and don't forget to catch all of our episodes on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts and be sure to follow us on Instagram or Twitter at sports rep law. Thank you

Transcribed by https://otter.ai