We have already seen some spectacular scoring efforts this month as Liberty’s Darius McGhee scored 48 PTS in a win at FGCU on January 15th and UNLV’s Bryce Hamilton scored 45 PTS last Friday in a road upset at Colorado State. However, those 2 pale in comparison to Bo Clark, who remains the all-time leading scorer in UCF history with 2886 career PTS. He led all of D-2 in scoring with 31.6 PPG in 1979 and had a game for the ages as a sophomore when he scored a ridiculous 70 PTS in a game against Florida Memorial University. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Bo about playing for his father and winning almost 500 games as a coach himself. Today is the 45th anniversary of Bo’s 70-PT game on January 30, 1977, so we take this time to remember his fantastic feat.
You played for your father Torchy, who never had a losing season in 14 years at UCF: what was it like to play for him, and how much of an influence was he on your own decision to become a coach? He was definitely my mentor: we lost him about a decade ago. He had the most wins in UCF history until Coach Kirk Speraw passed him. I had offers from some other schools but wanted to play for my dad. I was fortunate that we were successful: when you are the coach’s son and take 25 shots/game you are going to get a lot of criticism if you lose!
In January of 1977 you scored a school-record 70 PTS (33-47 FG) against Florida Memorial, which led Coach AC Robinson to say, “The only way we could have stopped him was to grab both his arms and break them!”: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? I am not a guy who brags about himself, but I scored over 50 PTS a couple of other times so it was not like I came out of nowhere. It was a unique game where we played against a run-and-gun team from the NAIA. We maintained a big lead throughout the game: I had about 14 PTS in the 1st 10 minutes and 33 PTS at the half. I was playing with a lot of confidence in my dad’s system where we pushed the ball a lot. With about 8 minutes left the announcer told the crowd that I had scored 60 PTS. Some coaches would have taken their son out but my dad let me stay in there. I got a standing ovation with about 2 minutes left: even though there were only about 800-900 people in attendance it still felt great.
In the fall of 1977 you broke a bone in your foot during an exhibition game and did not get to play while your team advanced to the Final Four: did you consider the season a success (due to your team making it so far) or a failure (due to not getting to help them do so) or other? Everyone thought the season was doomed because I was supposed to be out for 8-10 weeks. We opened up by losing close games to a couple of D-1 teams (Rice/Lamar)…and after that the team went out and won 24 straight games. We were ranked as high as #2/#3 in the nation. I had to swallow a little humble pie because I did not suit up as part of that team. We played Cheyney State in the 1st game in the Final 4 (coached by John Chaney) and they beat us by 16 PTS: that was the only game that I thought I could have gotten us over the hump if I had played. After that we lost to Eastern Illinois in the consolation game. I believe that things happen for a reason and I guess I was just not meant to play that year. We did not have 1 specific player step up to replace my scoring: everyone chipped in on offense.
In the fall of 1978 you returned from injury by scoring 44 PTS in 40 minutes in the season opener vs. Flagler: how did it feel to finally get back on the court, and did you feel comfortable playing the full 40 minutes in your 1st game back? It felt great to be back on the court and playing basketball. When you are 21 years old you have no idea that you are going to be coaching your opponent only a few years after that! To be honest, even though I scored 44 PTS I felt a little rusty and thought that I did not play as well as I could have.
In 1979 you had a career-high 8 STL vs. Blackburn: was defense a key part of your game, and if so then how were you able to balance that with your incredible scoring ability? I think that my defense was actually the reason I never got into the NBA. In my dad’s system we ran a 2-3 zone defense the entire time (like Jim Boeheim at Syracuse). I played well in the Portsmouth Invitational and at a pre-draft camp in Cincinnati but most scouts did not think that I could guard NBA players.
In 1979 you led the nation in scoring with 31.6 PPG: did you feel like you were 1 of the best players in the country, and did it bring a lot of attention to the UCF program? I never thought that I was 1 of the best players in the nation: there was some guy who led D-1 in scoring that year named Larry Bird! I was almost like a poor man’s Pete Maravich: wherever we went people came out to watch the “Torchy and Bo Show”. I was not a “Hick from French Lick” but did not like getting all of the attention. My numbers actually went down during my senior year due to the scoring of Gerald Jones but it was the best all-around basketball that I ever played. I was a target that whole year: we faced a box-and-1 or a triangle-and-2 everywhere we went. I thought that I would have a chance to make an NBA roster or play in Europe. It brought the school a lot of publicity because we led the nation in scoring…but it also created a lot of pressure. If I scored 27 PTS the night before then some people would ask me, “What was wrong with you last night?”. I would respond, “Why don’t YOU go out there and try to score 27 PTS?”
You were a 3-time 1st-team All-American: what did it mean to you to win such outstanding honors? Any time you can be named All-American it is exciting, both for you and your school, and it also made my dad proud. It is something that I can tell my kids about and they can see it listed in the media guide, which is kind of a neat thing.
You finished your career as the all-time leading scorer in school history: did you realize at the time how prolific a player you were? When you are going through it at the time you do not think about it, but when I look back on it now it seems amazing that I could score 31 PPG. It was definitely the right move for me to go to UCF and play for my dad. He was really hard on me, which showed my teammates that there was no favoritism. It was a fun 5 years for me (counting my redshirt year).
You broke many scoring records that belonged to your brother Mike (who scored 2085 career PTS): what kind of relationship do you 2 have, and how did it feel to have to pass him en route to getting the records for yourself? We are really close: I run some basketball camps in Orlando that he has been a part of. We have a good relationship so I think that he was really happy for me. I am proud of him too: he is in the UCF Hall of Fame as well.
After retiring as a player you became head coach at Flagler College, where you won almost 500 games: what impact did your playing career have on your coaching career? We went from NAIA to D-2, which was a big jump. It will take awhile to become 1 of the premier teams in the Peach Belt Conference. My playing career helped me as a coach, but what helped me the most was just picking my dad’s brain and watching his practices as both a player/son. 1 advantage of being a coach’s son is being able to get into the gym whenever you want! I tell my recruits that anytime you are at 1 school for almost 30 years you either love it or you are crazy. I coached all 3 of my sons (JP/Dave/Matt) at Flagler at different times: it was like déjà vu for a Clark to be coaching his son. When my dad is looking down from heaven I think he is smiling.