Former St. John's walk-on Kevin Clark named Lackawanna Community College Head Coach

After graduating from St. John's University and leaving the basketball program back in 2011, former walk-on Kevin Clark will now get his first shot at coaching, as he was named the head coach of the Lackawanna Community College basketball team Wednesday, per the Scranton Times-Tribune of Pennsylvania.

Clark, now 25, walked on to the Red Storm basketball team as a sophomore guard during the 2008-09 season. By his senior season he had earned a scholarship from head coach Steve Lavin despite appearing in only five games for the Johnnies at that point.

Lavin expressed his positive feelings toward Clark and his achievement through a series of tweets today, writing, "Kevin was an intelligent, dedicated student-athlete and it was clear he would blaze a successful career path in coaching. He has always been a leader and we are proud to welcome him into the coaching fraternity."

Good feelings appear to be mutual between Clark and the Red Storm basketball program. Clark attributed his three years of basketball at St. John's as a major aspect of him choosing to get into coaching.

"Being a walk-on, I wasn't playing 40 minutes a game against Duke, so I had to sit back and learn everything and I think that helped me with coaching," he said. "I was there to take it all in and I learned from the best."

After graduating from St. John's in 2011, Clark still had one year of basketball eligibility remaining. From there he enrolled in Division II Pace University to work on his master's degree in education, where he played in 26 games during the 2011-12 season. For the past two years he has served as a Graduate Assistant at Pace under head coach Pat Kennedy.

A former Lackawanna D-II Conference Player of the Year and first team all-region selection while at Dunmore High School, Clark will be returning home to take over a team that finished just 13-19 last season.

Time will tell if he can improve on that record next season, but no matter what he will still receive everlasting support from the Red Storm basketball community.