Big Apple-Born Guards Like Bulls

The past few weeks have seen an avalanche of recruiting interest focused on Ocala Shores’ Cliff Clinkscales, and it doesn’t figure to let up anytime soon if Clinkscales continues his current domination.

The 6-foot-1 senior point guard poured in 41 points and dished out 11 assists on Tuesday, then followed that performance up with 40 points and 17 assists Thursday night. The parade of college coaches calling and visiting the small Christian school has kicked into full gear.

“We had a writer do a story on Cliff about three weeks ago, and since then it’s been unbelievable,” Shores Head Coach Danny Smith said. “We have Maryland coming to practice today. UMass will be in next week. St. Bonaventure was in last week. We’re getting about 10 calls a day from coaches – Louisville, FSU, Clemson . . . “

The reason for the increased interest is simple. All it takes is a look at the numbers. Although the competition at tiny Shores is obviously not on par with larger schools, Clinkscales has been an unstoppable force, averaging better than 20 points and 12 assists per outing. He’s also erased the one question mark observers might have had about his game – shooting range.

Smith said Clinkscales now regularly pulls up two or three feet behind the three-point arc and buries shots. He’s currently hitting 42-percent from long distance.

“Hard work pays off. This summer a teammate and I would just go out and shoot 500 shots a day. People have this thing that New York City guards can’t shoot, so I wanted to get rid of that,” said Clinkscales, who grew up in New York before moving to Ocala three years ago.

Florida State was Clinkscales’ early favorite, and the Seminoles continue to heavily recruit him, but USF remains in the picture – with an added twist that perhaps even the Bulls’ coaches may not be aware of yet.

“We have a junior guard named Terry McKenzie, who’s Cliff’s cousin, and he told me last week that he wants to play (at USF),” Smith said. “I don’t know where it came from, but he just said it to me. Let me tell you, he’s a player. He averages about 19 a game for us and next year he’s going to really be a guy to watch.

“He played at Benjamin Cardoza (in New York) and came in this year. No offense to the kid USF has from Leesburg (Marlyn Bryant), but Terry’s a much better basketball player.”

Clinkscales said his cousin’s interest in USF comes from the same source as his own – the Bulls’ new affiliation with the Big East.

“We talk every night and I know Terry would like to go (to USF). That interests me a lot, too, because I have a lot of friends that are playing in the Big East now. It’s a real strong conference,” he said. “I’ve been talking with Coach (Tommy) Deffebaugh.”

While other schools have been aggressively pursing him lately, Clinkscales said his last contact with USF was about three weeks ago, “. . . but they’re in the middle of the season, so that doesn’t make me lose interest in them.”

Shores (26-5) will wrap up its season March 9-12 at a national Christian tournament in Dayton, Tenn., that’s sure to be packed with college coaches. Clinkscales will then go about sorting through his choices for official visits – one of which he said he would definitely be interested in with USF, if offered.

Clinkscales carries a 2.9 grade point average and will be sitting for the next offering of the standardized test.