Back in April, the Kentucky Wildcat program and those close to Terrence Clarke were absolutely devastated when news broke that the former top-eight recruit had passed away.
Shortly after his freshman season with Kentucky, Clarke was involved in a car accident in Southern California. Reports quickly broke that the projected first-round pick had tragically died in said accident.
Fast forward a few months, and the NBA held its annual draft in Brooklyn Thursday evening. As the lottery came to a conclusion, commissioner Adam Silver took to the podium to announce that the Association had drafted Terrence Clarke in what was a tremendously classy and emotional move.
“Please know that he will forever be a part of the NBA family. It is my honor to now announce that with the next pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, the NBA selects Terrence Clarke from the University of Kentucky,” Silver said.
Seeing Clarke’s mother and family on the scene at Barclays Center in Brooklyn when the announcement was made pretty much left no dry eye in the building.
Sometimes, we’re reminded that there’s a lot more important things in life than sports. While the NBA world was celebrating the inclusion of a new class of players into its fraternity, the Terrence Clarke announcement brought this reminder to the forefront.