Boys basketball: Clark plans to bring his old traits to new-look Panthers

Surrounded by talent, Warren Clark keeps trying to get better.

Clark can’t remember the last time he played with this many capable teammates. Taking a brief glance around the practice courts at Permian, the Panthers have size, speed and plenty of quickness.

A team like this might be able to do something special. So Clark keeps working, keeps hanging on every word that comes out of Permian head coach Danny Wright’s mouth, keeps looking for flaws in his game to fix.

So this team can reach its potential.

“You’re not going to find anybody to say anything bad about a kid like Warren,” Wright said. “When you can find a captain with that kind of character, it enhances the character of your team.”

Standing 6-foot-4, Clark has the kind of wingspan a pterodactyl would covet and the quick-strike leaping ability to get right back into the air almost as soon as his feet touch the floor.

But District 2-5A had more than its fair share of long-limbed human pogo sticks last season. Only one led the district in rebounding.

Playing out-of-position at center, Clark routinely posted double-digit rebounding totals against taller competition last season because of his relentless pursuit of the ball after it bounced off the rim.

And the new Panthers on the roster can learn from Clark’s humility.

“I still need to crash more,” Clark said. “I’m not a great rebounder. It just comes down to effort, really.”

Last year Clark made a living on the glass at center. But his natural position is at the ‘3’, the small forward, a position that suits his ability to penetrate and get to the basket. And thanks to the sudden influx of size at Permian, Clark will move back to the wing this season.

Mark Brake, a 6-foot-7 center, will lock down the post for Permian, a team that also features 6-7 post player Taylor Short, 6-6 forward Detrionne Fields and Jordan Wilborn, a returning 6-3 forward.

For the first time in the three years Wright has coached at Permian, he doesn’t have to ask anybody to play out of position. Not in games, not in practice, not on the team bus to any game.

“I’ve never been able to do that before,” Wright said. “Our strength is going to be that we’ll be able to wear teams down.”

Coupled with the 6-3 Clark, who will draw a lot of mismatches on the perimeter, 6-foot-5 shooting guard Jerry Joseph has the size and athleticism to create matchup problems for smaller guards.

And Wright has three guards — sophomore Devin Strickland, senior Divonte Wallace and senior Demorri Wilkerson — capable of handling the point.

“We have a chance to be good,” Strickland said. “We just have to stay focused and keep working on defense.”

Keep looking for ways to improve.

And nobody self-analyzes better than Clark.

During Monday’s practice, Clark blew past his man with the left hand, stutter-stepped in the lane, crossed over between two defenders and rose up to the rim.

But he missed the layup.

“I have to finish better,” Clark said. “I need to flash more and finish at the basket instead of worrying about my man.”

A little later, Clark took Brake off the dribble to the baseline and drew the foul. After he missed the free throw, Wright challenged his captain to make the next one.

Clark hit nothing but net.