Jason Clardy said he was in the third grade the first time he ever dunked a basketball. It was on a Fisher Price hoop his grandmother gave him.
“She gave me a little hoop to play on and the first thing I did was dunk on it,” Clardy said. “After that I just wanted to play ball.”
For the past two seasons, Clardy played basketball at Midland College in Texas, Alma Mater to notable NBA players Spud Webb and Mookie Blaylock. The 6-foot-7 Clardy red shirted his first season and came off the bench last year when Midland advanced all the way to the NJCAA National Title game.
“I didn’t start on that team because we were stacked,” Clardy said. “I played behind a guy named Kavon Lytch who was probably one the best players I’ve ever played against.”
Clardy added, “I’m glad I didn’t start because it made me better playing against that type of competition.”
When his coach at Midland left following the title game, Clardy decided to leave Texas and play closer to his home in Indianapolis. Clardy said a friend brought him to an open gym at Sinclair Community College over the summer, where Sinclair coach Jeff Price offered him a scholarship, which he accepted.
“I didn’t want to be around a coach that was going to limit my game and I knew coach Price was going to try and make me better,” Clardy said.
Price worked with Clardy, playing him on the perimeter during the non-conference schedule instead of his customary spot near the basket, which Clardy said allowed him to improve his ball handling skills and jump shot.
“Coach Price gave me freedom,” Clardy said. “He didn’t just give me that barrier to do just one thing, he actually let me go out and do other things that a lot of coaches wouldn’t let me do.”
Clardy said the highlight of his season came on Dec. 20, when he scored 36 points and grabbed 13 rebounds against Wilmington College’s JV team.
“I’ve never scored that many points in a game before and I really could have scored even more, but my teammates wanted to get involved and I didn’t want to be selfish,” he said.
Nineteen games into the season, Clardy leads the Tartan Pride in scoring at 14.4 points a game and is second on the team in rebounding at 7.1 a game. With only eight games left, Clardy has high hopes for both the Tartan Pride and himself.
“My expectations are to get to the national tournament and win the whole thing,” Clardy said. “My goals are to make lifelong friends and to become successful here by getting my degree.”