BOSTON — While the country continues to mourn the loss of NBA prospect Terrence Clarke, those who grew up with the Roxbury native are honoring him.
He spent a lot of time in the gym at Davis Leadership Academy, and Friday night his former teammates, classmates, and even people who never met him gathered there to show how much he meant to the community.
Balloons, hugs, and candles providing just a little comfort for the hundreds who gathered including a former teammate’s mother, Tanaysha Howell.
“He was one of my babies for years. I watch them here play in this building,” Howell said. “I watched him become a great phenomenal young man and amazing spirit. This is definitely not the year we expected.”
The Kentucky basketball freshman died Thursday in a car crash in Los Angeles. He was just 19.
Clarke was preparing for the 2021 NBA Draft and many projections had him going in the first round. His former teammates saying that’s part of what makes this so devastating.
“I couldn’t go to work, loss of appetite, it sucks, it hurts, it really does because why him?” said Julian Howell. “He did everything he said he was going to do. It just sucks that he didn’t get to see the fruits of his labor but we will still carry on his legacy the best we can always.”
He had made it. Outshining competition in Roxbury, moving on to the University of Kentucky, and next up, the NBA. He had worked his entire life to get to the NBA, and it was in sight, but he’ll never get to complete his goal. Celtics fans may remember a similar story in Len Bias. But this story, one of a Roxbury native.
“It wasn’t by chance or by luck,” said Julian Howell. “He put the work in, he was just one of those people and people want to be around and gravitate towards.”
Now, the only thing people could gravitate toward were the memories he left behind.
“At Beantown Slam, Terrence won the championship and this man was so amazed at what he did on the court, Terrance gave this metal to this young man he never met and that’s the type of person everyone should remember Terrance,” said a former teammates parent Jerrod Clark while referencing 14-year-old Gabe Cohen of Brookline.
“It meant a lot to me because I’ve never even met him before,” said Cohen. “I’ve always looked up to Terrance before that and just meeting him and my first impression of him was him giving this to me. It meant a lot and gave a lasting impression. He’s just a great person that inspired the whole city and it’s bigger than just knowing him personally, it’s all about what you do for the city and what you do for everybody else. Whether you knew him or not, we will all remember him for the person he was, and so many people will be inspired by what he did.”
“He was going to do it for us, it was always Clarke on his back, but it was Boston on his chest and he stood for that every step of the way and he meant it,” said Julian Howell.
This death has moved hearts all across the country and the sports world. Some tributes even coming from a couple of Celtics including Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker, and Brad Stevens. Several more athletes like Lebron James also sent tributes. There was another candlelight vigil Friday night held on the University of Kentucky campus.
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