Recruiting Report: Curtis Clinger (2018)
Thomas Worthington’s 6’4” guard Curtis Clinger (2018) recently received his first scholarship offer, from Goshen.
“I’m supposed to visit pretty soon. I’m trying to get a date setup … I’m definitely considering everything right now. But my ultimate goal is to play D-II or D-I and they’re NAIA. I mean, if worst comes to worst, I guess it’s still an option for me,” Clinger told Prep Hoops.
Because of his D-I/D-II goals, Clinger is considering prep school after his senior year at Thomas Worthington.
“I’m definitely trying to play D-I or D-II, which people say is unrealistic. So, depending on how this year goes, I may do a postgrad year … It’d be like a prep school,” Clinger said.
At the end of the day, Clinger just wants to hoop.
“I really haven’t thought about what I would want to be, other than basketball. Still got to figure that out. I just want to play basketball as long as I can. So, even if I can’t play D-II or D-I, like, I’m still going to try to pay in college,” Clinger said.
Clinger also has interest from Bethany (WV), Tiffin, Ohio Wesleyan and Otterbein. He will take a visit to Bethany soon.
It’s been a long, winding road for the gritty guard. He spent his underclassmen years at Upper Arlington, where he was cut from the team twice.
“I didn’t really want to give up on basketball, so I transferred to Thomas and things went pretty good from there,” Clinger said.
Becoming a starter for TWHS took a ton of persistence from Clinger. While UA was on the court in the winters, Clinger couldn’t even bring himself to partake in the student section. The shortcomings put a chip on his shoulders.
“I probably took like five or six days off and thought about what I wanted to do. And, you know, when I first thought of transferring, everyone thought it was pretty stupid because, ‘oh, you got cut two years in a row. You’re not going to make it somewhere else.’ But, I just didn’t want to grow to be 50 or 60 years old and regret not trying.”
“It’s my dream to play [Upper Arlington]. I don’t care when it happens, like first round of the playoffs. I’d leave it all out on the line,” Clinger said.
Unfortunately for Clinger, the teams don’t align on each others’ regular season schedule.
Regardless, scouts can catch Clinger with a TWHS team that doesn’t return many starters. Clinger and emerging junior center prospect, Ben Wight, will likely lead their attack.