Elijah Marcus Clarance (born 3 July 1998) is a Swedish professional basketball player who last played for Lovćen 1947 of the ABA League Second Division and the Prva A Liga. Standing at 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in),[1] he plays as shooting guard.

Elijah Clarance
Free Agent
PositionShooting guard
Personal information
Born (1998-07-03) 3 July 1998 (age 25)
Norra Sofielund, Sweden
NationalitySwedish
Listed height1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Listed weight86 kg (190 lb)
Career information
High schoolSt. Maria Goretti School
(Hagerstown, Maryland)
CollegeIllinois State (2017–2018)
NBA draft2019: undrafted
Playing career2018–present
Career history
2018–2020Skyliners Frankfurt
2018–2019Skyliners Juniors
2019–2020Heroes Den Bosch
2020–2021Vrijednosnice Osijek
2021–2022Lovćen 1947
2022–2023VEF Rīga
2024 - presentAtomeromu SE
Career highlights and awards

Early career edit

Clarance played in the youth section of Swedish club Malbas.[2]

College career edit

Clarance committed to play for Illinois State on 14 September 2016.[3] In the 2017–18 season, he made his debut with the team, but saw his season cut short by injury as he averaged 2.7 points and 1.1 rebounds in 21 games.

Professional career edit

Clarance departed Illinois State to start his professional career with Fraport Skyliners of the Basketball Bundesliga.[4]

On 9 August 2019, Clarance was sent on loan to New Heroes Den Bosch of the Dutch Basketball League (DBL).[5] The 2019–20 season ended prematurely on 20 March because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[6] In 20 games played, Clarance averaged 7.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

On 1 January 2021, Clarance signed with Croatian club KK Vrijednosnice Osijek until the end of the season.[7] In six games played, he averaged 14.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

On 28 September 2021, Clarance signed with Lovćen 1947 of the ABA League Second Division and the Montenegrin League.[8] He earned the Montenegrin League MVP and Top Scorer honors after averaging 19.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.9 steals in 17 games played during the 2021–2022 season.

National team career edit

With the Sweden Under-20 team, Clarance played at the 2018 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. Here, he was the leading scorer of the tournament after averaging 22.4 points per game.

Personal life edit

Clarance is a Muslim. His mother is Swedish while his father was born in Trinidad.[9] Clarance's older brother is former professional basketball player Bilal Clarance.[10] At an early age, he met Nicolas Lunabba [sv], whose influence guided Clarance, and who wrote the book Will You Care If I Die? about the experience.[11][12][13]

References edit

  1. ^ "Elijah Clarance Player Profile, Illinois State, NCAA Stats, International Stats, Events Stats, Game Logs, Bests, Awards - RealGM".
  2. ^ "Malbas BBK Herr U17 | laget.se".
  3. ^ "Elijah Clarence - Basketball Recruiting - Player Profiles - ESPN".
  4. ^ "Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt signs Swedish prospect Elijah Clarance". Sportando. August 24, 2018. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  5. ^ "Zweeds talent Elijah Clarance naar Den Bosch". www.newheroesbasketball.com (in Dutch). 9 August 2019. Archived from the original on 10 August 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  6. ^ "DBL beëindigt seizoen 2019-2020" [DBL ends 2019-2020 season]. Basketball League (in Dutch). 20 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  7. ^ "Švedski reprezentativac potpisao za Vrijednosnice - Basketball.hr". Basketball.hr (in Croatian). 1 January 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  8. ^ "Montenegrin Prva A Liga Transactions". RealGM.com. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  9. ^ "Elijah Clarance, Skyliners: 'I'm just in attack mode at all times' - Player Spotlight - Welcome to 7DAYS EuroCup". Eurocupbasketball.com. 11 January 2019. Archived from the original on September 5, 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  10. ^ Jim Benson (15 September 2016). "'Athletic' point guard Clarance sees ISU as good fit". The Pantagraph. Archived from the original on 22 September 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  11. ^ Gargallo, Eric. "Elijah Clarance talks his development and decision to turn pro". Eurospects. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  12. ^ Radio, Sveriges (2022-09-09). "Elijah Clarence räddades av Nicolas Lunabba - Morgonpasset i P3 – Gästen". sverigesradio.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  13. ^ "Will You Care If I Die? by Nicolas Lunabba". Pan Macmillan. Retrieved 2023-12-05.

External links edit