By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – For the third time in his Tennessee Tech men's basketball career, junior guard Jr. Clay earned a place among the top players in the Ohio Valley Conference. Announced by the league on Tuesday, Clay was named to the All-OVC Second Team for the third-straight year.
The Chattanooga native joined an exclusive club among Golden Eagle hoopers, becoming just the fifth member of the program to earn either All-OVC First or Second Team honors at least three times in his career. Also in the group are Hall of Famers Kenny Sidwell (1954-58), Frank Jones (1972-76) and Stephen Kite (1982-86), as well as the program's all-time leading scorer, Earl Wise (1986-90).
Concluding his junior campaign, Clay led the purple and gold with 17.3 points per game, 34.3 minutes per game and 43 steals, playing in 24 of the team's 27 games after missing the first three contests due to COVID-19 protocols. He averaged 2.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting 43.4 percent from the floor, 34.7 percent from distance and 72.3 percent from the charity stripe. He ranked second in the OVC in scoring, third in 3-point field goals per game, fifth in steals per game and 10th in assists per game.
He became just the second player in team history to start his career with three-straight 400-plus point seasons, joining Wise on the short list. The guard ranks as just the seventh to score 400 or more in three seasons in his career and the first since Kevin Murphy (2008-12, second on the all-time scoring list) did his final three seasons.
During the season, he established new career-highs of 31 points and six makes from downtown in the team's win over Austin Peay on Feb. 25, 2021. He gathered his first career double-double with 20 points and a career-high 10 assists against Jacksonville estate (Dec. 3, 2020) and turned in another one with 15 points and 10 helpers at Eastern Kentucky (Jan. 9, 2021).
Clay lept into several of Tech's all-time career charts during the year, becoming the first player to don the purple and gold to rank in the top-20 in scoring (20th), top-10 in assists (eighth), top-10 in steals (eighth) and top-10 in 3-point field goals made (10th). He joined the team's 1,000-point club on Jan. 16, 2021 in the team's win over Tennessee State, becoming the 37th player in Golden Eagle history to score 1,000 in his career.
He moved into a tie for 12th in school history in terms of double-digit scoring performances, bringing his career total to 70. Clay also ended the season having made at least one 3-pointer in 37-straight games, the second-longest such streak in program history to just Josh Heard.
Photo by Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
