He’s not KU Jayhawks’ best player. But this freshman might be the most fun to watch
After Kansas freshman forward Zach Clemence checked into the game in the second half, it took him 24 seconds to put up a three. That one went in.
Seventy-one seconds later, after running in transition, Clemence received a pass on the left wing. Up went another three that fell through, with Clemence plunking three fingers against his temple in celebration.
There have been more important developments for KU men’s basketball from its first three wins, which included Thursday’s 88-59 home victory over Stony Brook.
But perhaps no story has been more fun than what’s happened so far with Clemence, who seems determined to squeeze the most offense out of every second he’s in.
“It’s just, when I get in the game and I’m open, I just let it go,” Clemence told Jayhawk Gameday Live afterward. “It usually goes in, so that’s a good thing.”
Let’s start with Clemence’s limitations before getting to his absurd numbers: He is not a finished product yet. Clemence needs to add muscle, and at the moment, he struggles to defend smaller guard-type players, which has limited his impact early.
Clemence admitted, when he goes in now, he’s neither the strongest nor fastest, so each part of his defensive technique has to be exactly right to hang on that end.
Opponents are all lucky that’s holding him back, though. Because Clemence’s offensive pace is so ridiculous right now that it’s pushing up against the limits of what should be possible.
Consider these facts:
• Coming into the night, the national leader in points with 17 minutes played or fewer was Oral Roberts’ Sir Issac Herron with 18. Clemence — in 17 minutes — now has 21 points for KU.
• The 6-foot-10 freshman has hit 4 of 7 threes and is tied for the second-most outside attempts on the team, despite ranking 10th in minutes.
• Clemence has put up 44% of KU’s shots when he’s been in the game; to compare, the top mark in the nation last year among qualifiers was Purdue’s Trevion Williams, who hoisted up 37% of his teams field goals when he was on the floor.
• Wayne Simien, who is one of the best big man shooters in KU history, had six career threes in 2,817 minutes; Clemence now has four career threes ... in his first 17 career minutes.
The last point, to be fair, needs context. Simien played in an era where big men gravitated to the basket, while KU coach Bill Self kept the reins much tighter when it came to his team’s shot selection.
Still ... in a new era of college basketball where pick-and-pop 5 men are becoming more common by the year, Clemence gives Self a handy weapon off the bench in matchups where David McCormack might not be as effective.
The question, though, is how long will Clemence keep firing like this? Does he have the total green light from Self? Or maybe a bright-ish yellow?
Both men faced questions about that Thursday night, with Clemence first being asked if Self encouraged him to shoot the three.
“Yeah ... I mean, for sure, for sure. He knows I can make it, so I mean, he lets me,” Clemence said, before smiling. “But there’s some threes I’ll take that aren’t what he wants, but they just happen to go in sometimes, so gotta take ‘em.”
Self, for his part, was plenty aware of Clemence’s fearlessness, noting that any player that took eight field goal attempts in 12 minutes like Clemence did Thursday was “pretty aggressive looking to shoot the ball.”
“I don’t think it’s real in a real game that he’ll take that many threes right off the bat,” Self said. “But if he plays, he’s got to shoot it, because that’s how he helps the team the most.”
Self went on to explain how he envisions Clemence helping KU in an ideal world. That would require him not taking every three-point look, while especially passing up on some early in the shot clock.
“It’s not like, ‘Come down and cast it,’” Self said. “It’s probably like, ‘Let’s give it a chance to get something better and then get (defenders) moving, and then get them hopefully screwed up where he could be open later in the clock.’”
The message might get fully through later, but for now, Jack-’Em-Up Zach has been a treat.
He had 11 points in 12 minutes Thursday, and through three games, he’s posting more points per game (7.0) than minutes (5.9).
“It’s great,” Clemence said of his role. ”I don’t know when I’m gonna go in, but I know when I go in, I’ll be ready.”
Most of all, at this point, that’s meant getting his aiming arm set.
And though Clemence might not be KU’s most complete player, he’s likely to remain a fan favorite with a style like this.
This story was originally published November 19, 2021 at 1:22 AM.
