LEXINGTON, Ky. — Coaches, teammates, and family members are remembering a former UK basketball player. Terrence Clarke died Thursday after a crash in California. 

What You Need To Know

  • 19-year-old Terrence Clarke was killed in a California car crash

  • At the age of 15, Jake Weingarten wanted to start a basketball recruiting website. Terrence Clark was his first interview

  • For the past five years, Clarke and Weingarten remained friends on and off the court

  • Members from all over the basketball community posted to social media their memories and condolences

 

Five years ago, Jake Weingarten stepped inside a gym and watched Terrence Clarke play for the first time. 

“Terrence was in seventh grade, and I was a freshman I was just getting started, and I saw him play. And I was so star-struck like I thought it was unbelievable like I was one of the craziest things" said recruiter and friend  Jake Weingarten. "I've watched so much basketball in my life and you can tell that a kid like Terrence is gonna be special,” he added.

Weingarten was working on starting his own basketball recruiting website and says if it wasn’t for Clarke, he wouldn't be where he is today. He owns the basketball recruiting platform called Stock Risers. 

“I mean Terrance just lit up every single room he was in, but as far as basketball goes, I mean just his work ethic, and how he stayed patient with everything and, wanting to achieve his dreams and wanting to you know do good for his mom and his little brother stuff like that there was just so many positive things to say about him,” Weingarten said.

Weingarten says even though they were from different cities, they still kept that friendship on and off the court. 

“I'd say like a lot of it was basketball because you know Terrance would come to me, you know, obviously, as I said with his offers but he would also come to me you know to ask about his game and you know how he can get better and you know he always just wanted to get better and I think that's why he's such a special person,” Weingarten said.

Being one of the people that helped Clarke through the recruiting process, Weingarten says Clarke was always striving to get better. 

“You know, that's why this hurts so much because you think about his mom and you think about his little brother, and you know how much he wanted to accomplish for them and you know how close it really all was to be a reality. It just hits so hard and you can tell by just how everyone's reacting to it, how special of a person he was,” Weingarten said..

Clarke had just finished his freshman season at the University of Kentucky and was preparing for the 2021 NBA draft. 

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