Brooks, Clark lauded as preseason first team All-SAC
ROCK HILL, S.C. – For the first time since 2013, Carson-Newman men’s basketball has placed a pair of players on the preseason All-South Atlantic Conference first team.
VIDEO: Carson Brooks Interview
VIDEO: Charles Clark Interview
Carson Brooks (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Charles Clark (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) both earned preseason first team accolades, the league office announced Monday morning.
"Carson has been a mainstay," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "He's been one of the most successful players in Carson-Newman men's basketball history, at least in the Division II era, in terms of wins and losses. We need leadership from him this year and I know he'll give it.
"To see where Charles was as a freshman, where he started and finished, it's one of the all-time great processes I've seen. He finished the season the final five or six weeks as one of the best players in our conference. He comes into this year with a lot of confidence."
A first team All-SAC selection and second team NABC All-Region pick in 2014-15, in addition to earning preseason All-America honors from Division II Bulletin this year, Brooks was Carson-Newman's leading scorer in his junior year. Brooks was 11th in the South Atlantic Conference in scoring at 15.1 points per game.
Brooks set a SAC and Carson-Newman record in his first game of 2014-15 by hitting 12 field goals without missing against the Barton Bulldogs.
"I'm about the team first," Brooks said. "This is nice, but there's a bigger picture out there. I honestly think this puts pressure on me because people will double me. But I trust my team to do their part so I'm not too worried about it."
He owned the SAC statistical championship for made field goals last season with 178. Brooks also clocked in at seventh in the SAC with his 57.8 field goal percentage. Brooks also registers at second and third on Carson-Newman's single game field goal percentage marks by going 11-for-12 from the field against Queens and 10-for-11 against Anderson.
He scored double figures in 24 contests this season including 16 consecutive at one point – the longest double-digit scoring stream since Sanders collected 15 consecutive double-digit games his senior year. Brooks reset his career high with 28 points against Queens. For the first time in his career, he dished out five assists in a game, doing so both against Queens at home and Newberry at home.
He had six, 20-point games last season, including three consecutive against Tusculum, Newberry and Anderson (that streak matches streaks of Davis and Sanders from their senior seasons for the longest 20-point scoring streaks for C-N under Benson). Brooks put down his second career double-double with 23 points and 10 boards against Tusculum at home before doing it again four games later with 20 points and 11 rebounds in the Eagles' win over top-ranked LMU in Harrogate.
He reached a nadir in the SAC tournament to earn all-tournament team honors. Brooks had double-doubles against both Coker in the quarterfinals and against Lincoln Memorial in the Eagles' SAC tournament championship clinching win. Brooks earned SAC Player of the Week honors once during his junior season.
Meanwhile, Clark was a South Atlantic Conference All-Freshman team selection and the MVP of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament a year ago. Clark scored 23 points and snagged nine boards to send the Eagles past LMU and on to the SAC tournament title. Clark scored 74 points in the tournament, nine away from Anderson's Denzail Jones and the tournament record.
He set his career high in the semis against Newberry with 33 points on 10-for-16 shooting. Clark finished the year second on the team in scoring and second in the SAC among freshmen. He averaged 12.6 points per game coupled with 3.7 rebounds per contest. Clarke played in 32 games and started 23, including 15 consecutive to end the season.
"It means a lot," Clark said. "But really, the team helped me get here. We work everyday to get better at the things that need improving while also working on the things that we're strong in."
Clark scored double digits in 16 games and 20 or more in eight. His arguably most impressive game came when he led the Eagles to an 87-72 win at No. 1 Lincoln Memorial. That night he had 30 points on 11-for-17 shooting.
He earned South Atlantic Conference player of the week honors for that performance and became the first freshman with a 30-point game for Carson-Newman since Ish Sanders set a then SAC and still school record with 51 points against Mars Hill in 2011. At the start of the season, Clark struggled from beyond the arc, shooting 27 percent from three following the Johnson C. Smith game.
He has successfully added a deep ball to his arsenal since Christmas and has connected on 23-of-56 threes in the second semester, a 50 percent clip. He had his first career double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds against Brevard in Holt Fieldhouse. Clark has led C-N in scoring eight times, including five in a row to close the season, rebounding four times and assists on seven occasions.
The SAC's third best thief, Clark has forced 51 steals this season and has led C-N for the stat 15 times, including a career best five swipes at Tusculum. He dished out six assists at home against Anderson for his season high there.
The Eagles open their season Nov. 13 against Southern Wesleyan at 8 p.m. Coverage will be available on the Eagle Sports Network on Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
