By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Off the heels of a spectacular junior campaign, Tennessee Tech point guard Jr. Clay was honored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches Wednesday morning, earning a place on the NABC All-District 18 Second Team as voted on by NCAA Division I head coaches.
The Chattanooga native, who earned his third-consecutive All-Ohio Valley Conference Second Team honor in as many years, became the first Golden Eagle to earn All-District honors since Torrance Rowe did so in 2015-16.
Taking another big step in production in 2020-21, 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.
With his All-OVC selection, Clay 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).
Photo by Dave Winder, Murray State Athletics
