Class of 2009 Senior Farewells: Shane Clark's Senior Season

To the Villanova Wildcats faithful-

This is the final installment of the Shane Clark Senior Farewell, as previous entries - Clark's arrival and freshman year, after originally signing a letter of intent to attend Maryland - as well as his sophomore year... and junior year...

I'll be following it up in subsequent posts for fellow seniors Dante Cunningham, Dwayne Anderson, and Frank Tchuisi...

The following information on Clark's senior season was culled from the Villanova.com site - the averages don't include the Final Four loss to North Carolina...

Clark had come off the bench down the stretch of his junior year. As a senior, Clark remained a role player, and was a significant part of the Wildcats' incredible Final Four run. He continued to come off the bench for the first half of the season, with his minutes ranging from a low of 13 to a high of 22. His final game off the bench was the upset of #4 Pittsburgh at the old Spectrum - the final collegiate game there - on January 28. (It was difficult to imagine at the time, that it wouldn't even be the most memorable victory, over Pittsburgh, this season.)

But when the calendar moved to February, Clark returned to the starting lineup for good, and started the remaining 18 games. Although he didn't play as many minutes as the other starters, Clark ended up logging 687 minutes for the season. As a starter, his minutes ranged from a low of 15 to a high of 29. He reached double-digits in scoring, half a dozen times. Highlights of his senior year included:

• 14 points and 10 rebounds - his sixth career double-double - in the win over Syracuse on Feb. 7.
• 16 points and seven rebounds in the win over Marquette on Feb. 10.
• 15 points and eight rebounds in the season-sweeping win at Syracuse on Feb. 22.
• 13 points - in just 18 minutes - in the win @ Notre Dame.
• Six points and six rebounds in the thrilling win over Marquette in the Big East quarterfinals, when Dwayne Anderson's shot rolled in at the buzzer...

But perhaps Clark's best performance of all came in the already-legendary Elite Eight victory over Pitt on March 27 in Boston. Clark nailed three triples early in the first half, and his sharpshooting forced the Panthers to extend their perimeter defense, opening up opportunities for his Wildcats teammates. Clark finished the contest with 11 points on 4/7 shooting, as well as four rebounds.

Looking at his career as a whole - Clark finished in double figures in points 26 times, and in rebounding five times, ending with five double-doubles... In summary, Clark was a key role player and frequent starter for a class that won more games than any other in Villanova's illustrious history...

Of course, check back for the latest posts in the Senior Farewell series, in which I'll be looking back at the Villanova tenures of each of the other three departing Wildcats...

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