It is all conjecture. I wonder what Stevie would have scored if he would have had Shaq Morris on the Douglas team.
Stevie would still average over 30, he would just have a lot more cool looking alley oop assists. A lot of that is because the All City league is down, but most of that is the fact that Stevie Clark is really good at scoring the ball.
Ok, now that I've gotten that trivial statement out of the way let's get into the heart of this.
Stevie Clark vs Jordan Woodard has been a topic I've spent way too much time thinking about since 2011. They both won state titles that year and both emerged as the top point guard prospects in the state. They're both really good players, with only a handful of losses in high school and each have multiple state championship rings.
Stevie Clark had the better high school career. He put up insane numbers. He drew these large crowds that would turn gyms into packed hotboxes on cold winter nights. But for me, high school stats are no way to predict college success.
(This is where I put on my basement blogger hat and say that I've seen both of them play more than 95% of this board, so I obviously know more!)
They're both point guards, but they're different players.
Stevie Clark is a weapon. He has already gone down as one of the best scorers in the history of Oklahoma high school basketball. He's also super competitive, kid works his tail off and I'm sure success is going to come to him at the next level. But I'd be remiss not to point out to that I do worry that his defense could be a weakness as a freshman.
For me, Smart coming back to school was the best thing to happen to Clark. I think he's going to learn a lot from Smartacus that's going to help his game in the long term.
For the short term, it puts Clark into the perfect 6th man role similar to a Jamal Crawford or J.R. Smith. He's going to have a few games where he'll be hot from three, play over 20 minutes, score 15 or more points and generally bring the Rowdy to Gallagher Iba. He'll also have a couple games where he'll miss his first couple threes and he'll see little minutes.
While for Woodard I think his situation is a bit different as he's likely going to have to carry a big load as a freshman. Judging off what I watched last year from Cousins and Hornbeak and all I've seen from Woodard over the past 2 and a half years, Woodard is by far the most natural point guard of the three. I have no clue what improvements Cousins and Hornbeak will make over the summer, but I'd take Woodard right now as a point guard to run a team.
To add to my point that Woodard is likely the option at point guard for 30 minutes a game next season, I think he's a favorite of Lon Kruger.
Woodard was one of the first, if not the first, underclassmen Kruger offered. And he always made Woodard a priority for the next year. Even after Woodard signed, he was still a regular at Edmond Memorial's games. On freaking Valentines Day, he was up in the stands with his wife watching Woodard play. That may be, well it probably is, reading too much into, but I think that it is a good sign that Kruger has big plans for Woodard.
Now your asking yourself, if you're somehow still reading this random meandering message board post, what does this have to do with Woodard's college potential? Well, if you ask nicely I'll tell you.
I think Woodard will win the point guard job next year, because of the previous factors I've mentioned and the fact that he's a good player. Which should be the start of a really good 4 year career.
He'll have a good freshman year, but not good in the manner that all the elite one and dones have spoiled fans into thinking as good. Something like 6-9 points, 3-5 assists, about 2 steals would be a great starting point for his career.
Woodard is a very good all around guard. He knows how to run a half court offense, has good defensive instincts and can score a bit. He has the make up of a kid that can be a great four year building block for a program. He's the type of kid that could have the rep as "the underrated/one of the better defenders" in his conference by talking heads on ESPN as an upperclassmen.
(For any OSU fans still randomly reading this, I'll say Clark's ceiling is a bit higher but in some ways is a little harder to reach. (I think Woodard is a safer bet right now) If he keeps working hard, learns to defend a bit better, run an offense a bit better, etc; I think Clark could score close to 20 points a game on a good NCAA tournament team. He's got the type of game and personality that could make him a popular figure nationally.)
It's kind of a cop out to say that Clark and Woodard are both going to programs that fit them, but I think it's true. And I think fitting players to coaching philosophies is something that a lot of fans over look.
I'll add this one last rambling thought on Woodard.
I'm not sure if I've seen the "real" Jordan Woodard in over a year. Even before the hamstring injury hindered his high school season, I saw a knee injury bother him on the EYBL circuit in 2012. He's had some lingering injuries for a while, that has made it harder to get a read on him. Because one of the things that made a younger Jordan Woodard jump off the page was his explosiveness. For a little guard he used to get a lot dunks when he was healthy.
When Jordan Woodard had that explosiveness, it felt like the decision between him and Clark was closer to a coin flip. I hope we get to see both of them have healthy college careers and this analysis is turned meaningless by on the court play.
