Kevin Keatts calls Jack Clark's status 'game-by-game'

Jack Clark’s absence was a massive loss vs. Clemson over the weekend for NC State. The bouncy 6-foot-8 senior is the team’s leading rebounder and arguably its strongest defensive player but had to miss the game against the Tigers due to injury. The result? A 96-71 beatdown thanks to a pitiful defensive effort from the Wolfpack.

It’s safe to say NC State misses Clark and the athleticism he brings to a roster that simply doesn’t have someone to replace what he does. He’s the versatile forward that unlocks the rest of the roster. Just an indispensable piece as we head towards the NCAA Tournament. So what does his status look like at the moment? Wolfpack head coach Kevin Keatts answered that question following the Clemson loss:

“I don’t have an update. He’ll be a game-by-game situation. I couldn’t tell you whether he’s playing or not tomorrow, when he will play or if it’s in the ACC Tournament.”

No a complete non-update, got it. After that “update” Keatts then explained where NC State misses the most:

“But what he gives us is obviously, and it’s so funny when he started playing a game you realize how well he really rebounds to basketball. He goes after it. But it gives you another kind of a 6-8, 6-9, long, athletic wing that can shoot the ball, and we can play him at the three and we can play on the four.His ability to shoot the ball kind of helps our team because it opens up a little bit more of the posting for DJ Burns and, we were allowed to switch a lot of screens with him because his ability to keep some smaller guys possibly in front of him.

“So, we’d love to have him on the court. I think Ernest [Ross] and Greg [Gantt] have done a great job by him being out. But we do need another guy to kind of add to our rotation that was certainly helped us out a lot.”

Ross and Gantt are fine placeholders, but Clark’s absence really hurts the team, especially with regards to DJ Burns. See, Burns is just an odd player. He spent most of his career north of 275 pounds before cutting a decent amount of weight this season. But he’s never been a 30-minute-per-night type of dude. He generally plays 20ish minutes a game (23 mpg this year, to be exact) and features as a high-usage post option, where he’s incredibly efficient.

However, without Clark there to hold down the fort defensively and clean up the glass when Burns is not in, the team has suffered big time. Even when Burns is in, the big fella struggles to keep guys in front of him, which makes Clark such a vital part of their defense, because State hasn’t been able to pair Burns with a strong defensive player and versatile athlete.

State can stay afloat without Jack Clark, but they can’t do much in March without the senior Swiss-army-knife forward.