Rice Basketball Recruiting: Grad transfer guard Tre Clark commits to Owls

Furman grad transfer Tre Clark has committed to Rice basketball. The veteran guard will bring experience to the Owls’ young roster.

Rice basketball head coach Scott Pera met with the media at the end of April to address a flurry of roster changes the Owls had experienced since the end of their season. At that point, three players had entered the Transfer Portal.

Shortly after, forward Zach Crisler elected to leave the program, opening up another spot on the quickly changing roster. Pera might not have seen it coming, but he didn’t sit still.

Prior to Crisler’s departure, Pera was honest about the Owls’ current situation. “We lose one senior this year, and I hope that’s the only kid we lose. But I’m also not going to be naive to think that somebody else won’t leave in the spring. So if they do, we’ll be ready.”

Pera quickly reloaded, trading the developing freshmen into a grad transfer. Not long after the spot on the roster opened, Furman guard Tre Clark committed to Rice Basketball.

The Roost Podcast: Listen now to our Extended Offseason Interview Series

Clark played in 86 games over four years while at Furman. He saw his usage tick upward during his final two seasons with the Paladins, averaging 16.2 minutes per game off the bench. As a senior, he set career-high marks in rebounds (101), assists (38) and steals (32). He’ll give a veteran voice on a young team.

Like everything else these days, Clark’s recruitment was done virtually. Despite the challenges, Clark felt like he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play at Rice. “It checks every box a student athlete like myself is looking for,” he said, continuing to say he believed Pera’s squad was on the verge of a breakout season that he wanted to be a part of.

Clark is going to bring energy off the bench on both sides of the court. He also knows how to win. The Paladins won 50 games in the past two seasons, a feat Rice has yet to achieve in program history. If he can bring just a little bit of that winning edge to the Owls the move to Houston will have paid off handsomely.