Vanderbilt offered 2022 guard, Skyy Clark, all the way back in August. This past Sunday, the 17th ranked player in the Class of 2022 took an unofficial visit to the West End. Clark also had a visit scheduled a day earlier but cancelled that trip.
A future five star is almost assured, and Rivals very own Eric Bossi had no doubt that the youngster is just scratching the surface.
"Clark's skill and feel for the game is off the charts. He's starting to fill our his frame a bit, looks to have gotten a little taller and just makes those around him better. He can score with ease at the rim, in transition and is a dangerous jump shooter but his passing and the way he sets up defenders with hesitations, changes of speed and a high level ability to read what's available to him before making decisions."
The Commodores are part of an offer sheet that includes Kansas, UCLA, Arizona, Memphis, Michigan, Georgetown, Arizona State, Texas Tech, Florida State, DePaul, and Fresno State.
Skyy also has a younger brother named ZZ, who is in the 2024 Class. During the family's visit on Sunday. the 8th grader picked up a Commodore offer himself.
VandySports.com spoke with their father, Kenny, and he highlighted the Commodores interest in both of his sons.
Q: Tell us about Skyy's unofficial visit to Vanderbilt.
Clark: "We took the unofficial on Sunday. It was with Coach (David) Grace and Coach (Jerry) Stackhouse. We met the entire coaching staff and the Athletic Director. it was a very great visit. We saw the amazing campus, the gym, which is amazing, and they just told us what expectations they have for Skyy if he chose to come to Vanderbilt. They talked about how they would use him and coach him. It was a great meeting. To top it off, they happened to hear about the little brother, ZZ, and they offered him a scholarship."
Q: What did you see or learn about Vanderbilt that you didn't know?
Clark: "Honestly, I didn't know the city was that beautiful. The school is right in the heart of everything. I didn't know they had so many pros that came out, male and female. As we were walking through the hallway, I was noticing jersey after jersey, picture after picture of people who played professional basketball out of Vanderbilt. That is great. That is every basketball player's dream, to go on and play professionally. With pros cominout of that program, it is just a plus for everybody involved."
Q: What did they say they liked about Skyy?
Clark: "They said he is a winner. They love his size. They love that he can shoot the cover off the ball. They love that he has an elite handle, and the overall type of kind that he is, and what he stands for. They love his dog mentality. Obviously, have Scotty Pippen Jr, who has that same mentality. He's a dog. They love Skyy's mentality. Coach Grace has been watching Skyy since he was in seventh grade, and he just sees the growth of him not only as a basketball player but as a human being. He went from being a boy, to now he is built like a grown man. They love everything about him."
Q: Being from California, does Skyy know Scotty?
Clark: "They've known each other since Scotty moved out to California. We live about five minutes away from Sierra Canyon."
Q: Let's talk about ZZ. Being in the 2024 Class, we don't a lot about him yet. Describe him as a player to us.
Clark: "ZZ is a point guard as well. He's a point guard about 6-foot-1 and about 180 pounds. He also has an elite handle as you can imagine. He and his brother go against each other all of the time. Skyy kind of hones ZZ, I don't want to say a mold of himself because their games are completely different. But ZZ shoots the ball as good as you could want someone his age to shoot it. He can handle the ball. He can rebound. He plays lockdown defense, so to be honest the sky is the limit for him in the game of basketball."
Q: Is this his first offer?
Clark: "No, he got offered by DePaul as well."
Q: How did the Vanderbilt offer go down?
Clark: "We were just sitting in there, and they obviously had heard about him, especially being Skyy's little brother. They knew about him and did their homework on him. Coach Stack was like, 'ZZ we want you too.' Nobody really caught it but me. Coach Grace was like, 'Yeah, that's big time, him offering ZZ.'
ZZ was like, 'Wait, what? What happened?' He was stunned. He was so excited. I've never seen him smile so big. He is already a happy kid, but he went over the top because Vanderbilt is a big deal. That's SEC basketball. It's a high major. It brightened his entire day. He was elated."
Q: What is your overall view of Coach Stackhouse and what you think he will do with the program?
Clark: "First off, he is a cool, cool, individual. He's a cool human being. He's just laid back. He knows how to capture you. I've been following Coach Stack since he was at Oak Hill. I'm from Florida, and everybody was competing to see who is going to be Jerry Stackhouse on the court and in five on five. Everybody was arguing, 'I'm Stackhouse, I'm Rasheed Wallace.' It was all about Stackhouse. He made Oak Hill cool to everybody in the country. It was all about Jerry Stackhouse. That left an impression on me. Then to have the chance to meet him and to see what kind of person he is it just made it better. It validated my thoughts and opinions of how great of a player he was and that he is also a great human being."
A future five star is almost assured, and Rivals very own Eric Bossi had no doubt that the youngster is just scratching the surface.
"Clark's skill and feel for the game is off the charts. He's starting to fill our his frame a bit, looks to have gotten a little taller and just makes those around him better. He can score with ease at the rim, in transition and is a dangerous jump shooter but his passing and the way he sets up defenders with hesitations, changes of speed and a high level ability to read what's available to him before making decisions."
The Commodores are part of an offer sheet that includes Kansas, UCLA, Arizona, Memphis, Michigan, Georgetown, Arizona State, Texas Tech, Florida State, DePaul, and Fresno State.
Skyy also has a younger brother named ZZ, who is in the 2024 Class. During the family's visit on Sunday. the 8th grader picked up a Commodore offer himself.
VandySports.com spoke with their father, Kenny, and he highlighted the Commodores interest in both of his sons.
Q: Tell us about Skyy's unofficial visit to Vanderbilt.
Clark: "We took the unofficial on Sunday. It was with Coach (David) Grace and Coach (Jerry) Stackhouse. We met the entire coaching staff and the Athletic Director. it was a very great visit. We saw the amazing campus, the gym, which is amazing, and they just told us what expectations they have for Skyy if he chose to come to Vanderbilt. They talked about how they would use him and coach him. It was a great meeting. To top it off, they happened to hear about the little brother, ZZ, and they offered him a scholarship."
Q: What did you see or learn about Vanderbilt that you didn't know?
Clark: "Honestly, I didn't know the city was that beautiful. The school is right in the heart of everything. I didn't know they had so many pros that came out, male and female. As we were walking through the hallway, I was noticing jersey after jersey, picture after picture of people who played professional basketball out of Vanderbilt. That is great. That is every basketball player's dream, to go on and play professionally. With pros cominout of that program, it is just a plus for everybody involved."
Q: What did they say they liked about Skyy?
Clark: "They said he is a winner. They love his size. They love that he can shoot the cover off the ball. They love that he has an elite handle, and the overall type of kind that he is, and what he stands for. They love his dog mentality. Obviously, have Scotty Pippen Jr, who has that same mentality. He's a dog. They love Skyy's mentality. Coach Grace has been watching Skyy since he was in seventh grade, and he just sees the growth of him not only as a basketball player but as a human being. He went from being a boy, to now he is built like a grown man. They love everything about him."
Q: Being from California, does Skyy know Scotty?
Clark: "They've known each other since Scotty moved out to California. We live about five minutes away from Sierra Canyon."
Q: Let's talk about ZZ. Being in the 2024 Class, we don't a lot about him yet. Describe him as a player to us.
Clark: "ZZ is a point guard as well. He's a point guard about 6-foot-1 and about 180 pounds. He also has an elite handle as you can imagine. He and his brother go against each other all of the time. Skyy kind of hones ZZ, I don't want to say a mold of himself because their games are completely different. But ZZ shoots the ball as good as you could want someone his age to shoot it. He can handle the ball. He can rebound. He plays lockdown defense, so to be honest the sky is the limit for him in the game of basketball."
Q: Is this his first offer?
Clark: "No, he got offered by DePaul as well."
Q: How did the Vanderbilt offer go down?
Clark: "We were just sitting in there, and they obviously had heard about him, especially being Skyy's little brother. They knew about him and did their homework on him. Coach Stack was like, 'ZZ we want you too.' Nobody really caught it but me. Coach Grace was like, 'Yeah, that's big time, him offering ZZ.'
ZZ was like, 'Wait, what? What happened?' He was stunned. He was so excited. I've never seen him smile so big. He is already a happy kid, but he went over the top because Vanderbilt is a big deal. That's SEC basketball. It's a high major. It brightened his entire day. He was elated."
Q: What is your overall view of Coach Stackhouse and what you think he will do with the program?
Clark: "First off, he is a cool, cool, individual. He's a cool human being. He's just laid back. He knows how to capture you. I've been following Coach Stack since he was at Oak Hill. I'm from Florida, and everybody was competing to see who is going to be Jerry Stackhouse on the court and in five on five. Everybody was arguing, 'I'm Stackhouse, I'm Rasheed Wallace.' It was all about Stackhouse. He made Oak Hill cool to everybody in the country. It was all about Jerry Stackhouse. That left an impression on me. Then to have the chance to meet him and to see what kind of person he is it just made it better. It validated my thoughts and opinions of how great of a player he was and that he is also a great human being."
