University of Minnesota Athletics
Archie Clark - M Club Hall of Fame
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Archie Clark
Men’s Basketball, 1964-66
Baseball, 1964-66
HOF Class of 1998
Archie Clark finished his Gopher career ranked among the best of the basketball best, with 1,199 points and a 16.7 points per game scoring average.
Known for his ability to drive to the basket through traffic, the guard was selected team captain for the 1965-66 season, one of the first African-Americans at Minnesota to hold that honor in any sport. He was also named team MVP and All-Big Ten in his senior year. Clark set many single-season Gopher records, including averaging 24.5 points per game as a senior, at that time third on the all-time list.
He also played centerfield on the Minnesota baseball team, playing a major role in the squad’s third national championship in nine years, in 1964, when it edged top-ranked Missouri.
Clark turned pro in basketball, and played 10 years in the NBA with Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington, Detroit, Baltimore and Seattle, making two appearances in All-Star games. One of five founders of the National Basketball Retired Players Association, he was also active in the NAACP in the Detroit area.