By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Once A.J. Clark found a coaching path, he has been climbing in the college basketball ranks.
The Western Alamance alum was hired as an assistant coach for the Appalachian State men’s team last month.
“I’m in it for the long haul,” Clark said of the profession Tuesday. “It has been a great process, and I’ve learned from a lot of people.”
He has joined Appalachian State coach Dustin Kearns’ staff after spending the past two season as an assistant coach at Eastern Kentucky.
This move brings Clark, 32, back to live in his home state for the first time in seven years.
He’ll have some in-state recruiting connections to tap along with the on-court coaching duties. He primarily works with guards.
Kearns called Clark “a rising star in our profession who brings tremendous energy, a relentless work ethic and a passion for developing young men on and off the court.”
Clark has been living in a hotel for about a month as he transitions to the job with the Mountaineers. The summer session’s final team workout wrapped up Tuesday prior to a break before the fall semester begins.
Clark, a 2012 Western graduate and also a football player for the Warriors, played basketball collegiately and was a team captain for Pfeiffer, which at the time was an NCAA Division II member. He received Player of the Year honors in Conference Carolinas.
Prior to his college coaching ventures, he worked for Groundwork Player Development and was based in Wilming-ton. He then joined the staff at Young Harris College under Jeremy Currier, his former coach at Pfeiffer.
“Money wasn’t even a thought,” Clark said of those early coaching days. “But you saw if you really, really wanted to do it, you could make a career out of it.”
From there, he went to coaching roles on staffs at Georgia Southwestern State and then two seasons at Palm Beach Atlantic before the jump to Eastern Kentucky for his first position on the Division I level. He picked up a master’s degree from West Georgia along the way.
Clark said Appalachian State’s status in the Sun Belt Conference provides a nice foundation for the program. The Mountaineers finished 19-13 last year and they’ve been without a losing season since 2018-19.
“From a resources standpoint and with football being really big here, there’s a lot of excitement,” Clark said. “It’s a really good situation.”
