PHOENIX — Tony Clark learned long ago not to stay in one spot. There was a time when basketball was his future. Keep moving, the coaches instructed. It makes you harder to defend. Off he went to the University of Arizona and their Hall of Fame coach, Lute Olson. Clark’s path was certain.
“I knew that was the plan,” he said.
Then he blew out his back in his first Wildcats practice. Eventually, he transferred to San Diego State and kept trying to make things work. For two more years, he kept baseball at arm’s length while chasing his hoop dreams.