Pretty cool story on Marvin Clark:

Posted on: July 12, 2018 at 12:46:27 CT

I particularly like this quote:

“I didn’t want to bet on anyone else,” he said. “I would be betting on circumstances to happen, instead of going somewhere I feel like I’m the circumstances. It rides on my back. I can live with myself better if I was to fail knowing I bet on myself rather than relying on the circumstances to happen.”

https://nypost.com/2017/11/08/marvin-clarks-remarkable-journey-hes-a-kid-you-cheer-for/

The way Marvin Clark II sees it, everyone has a story. Some had it worse than him, others better.

His included his father’s early death and a stepfather’s arrest for dealing drugs, domestic violence seen up close, ratty homeless shelters, basketball mentors who helped create a life for him, and his relentlessly positive attitude that refused to be broken despite hardships.

Clark doesn’t consider himself, or what he has gone through, special or unique. It’s his story — one of perseverance, determination, and several chapters that remain to be written.

“I look back on it, and it’s crazy to say it, but I wouldn’t change it for the world,” he told The Post in a sit-down interview. “It’s made me who I am, and it’s helped me get to where I want to be.”

Early on, his life was flipped sideways. His father, Marvin Clark Sr., died of a heart attack when Clark was 3 years old. He didn’t understand he was gone. At the open-casket funeral, he tried to wake his dad up, and lay next to him.

Four years later, his stepfather, Ralph Miller, was arrested for dealing drugs. Their front door was kicked down by the police. Then life really went wrong growing up on the dangerous east side of Kansas City, Mo. Possessions were seized after Miller’s arrest, money became scarce. His mother, Donette Collins-Miller, entered into a series of unhealthy relationships, beaten up in front of her children on multiple occasions. Once, Clark found her hurt so badly she couldn’t move, bruises all over her face.

“Me and my brothers cried together because we couldn’t really do anything about it,” he said. “I have very vivid memories of that.”

The family went from home to home, spending significant time at homeless and domestic violence shelters. The first shelter came when Clark was in first grade, and the last during his sophomore year of high school. Sometimes they would be without running water or electricity. He had to switch schools frequently. Clark, the oldest of five siblings, was forced to grow up fast, cooking meals and doing laundry for his brothers and sisters. He didn’t fault his mom, who suffers from Lupus. She did the best she could. There was always food for them to eat, clothes to wear.

“That’s my inspiration, that’s my heart,” he said. “[She’s] why I’m as strong as I am.”

Through it all, Clark rarely wavered. He wouldn’t complain about his situation or look for help. He didn’t take the easy way out, fall in with the local gangs or run into trouble with police. He credited his mother and uncle, father-figure Daniel Collins, for that.

“A kid in that environment from that background, there’s usually something that can trigger them,” said Bertrand “Buzzy” Caruthers, his AAU coach and mentor. “There’s usually an anger or resentment and he didn’t have that. He made the best of his situations, whatever he was in.”

Sports were his outlet, and sports led to his break. Through a close friend, Clark met Caruthers, who would change his life. The summer before his junior year of high school, Caruthers brought him to the AAU team his brother-in-law Matt Suther founded, Nike-sponsored MoKan Elite, and was immediately struck by Clark’s positive attitude and coachability. They saw potential in his well-built frame, and raw talent, taking him under their wing, driving him to games and practices.

They placed him at Blue Springs (Mo.) High School, and later prep school Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kan., giving him the stability his life had lacked. There, Clark developed into a prime recruit, a top-150 prospect, and committed to Michigan State. At times, he wanted to go home to help his family, but Suther, Caruthers and his mother wouldn’t let him. He was on the right path.

“Luckily I had great men in my life,” Clark said.

“He might not have made it if he just stayed home,” Collins-Miller said in the documentary “I Am Marvin Clark.” She told him: “What you’re going to gain and get from this, it’s going to be positive for all of us.”