AJ Clark, joined the EKU staff as an assistant coach in June of 2024.
In 2024-25, Clark helped the Colonels win 18 games and stay in the running for a second straight Atlantic Sun Conference Championship up until the final week of the season.
EKU beat East Tennessee, led Clemson by four with less than 13 minutes left in the game and nearly beat Louisville during the non-conference portion of the schedule. The Cardinals had to hit a last second shot to beat EKU by one. Once conference season started, the Colonels put together their longest conference winning streak in 59 years. An 8-game ASUN winning streak allowed the team to climb to the top of the league standings, beating eventual champion Lipscomb twice during that run. The team also had three wins against two more postseason tournament teams – Florida Gulf Coast (2) and Queens (1).
During the 2024-25 season, the Colonels ranked 14th in NCAA Division I in offensive rebounds, 25th in turnovers committed, 25th in turnover margin, 33rd in steals and 37th in 3-pointers made.
Devontae Blanton earned first team All-ASUN honors and was a candidate for ASUN Player of the Year after putting together a season in which he was the only player in the conference ranked among the top-15 in points, rebounds, assists, steals and field goal percentage. George Kimble III joined the program after one season in Division II and became a second team all-conference selection. Mayar Wol was chosen as the ASUN Sixth Man of the Year.
“I’m excited to have AJ on our coaching staff,” EKU Head Coach A.W. Hamilton said. “His drive, work ethic, and passion for helping young men become the best versions of themselves on and off the court are what endeared him to me.”
Before coming to EKU, Clark served as an assistant coach at Palm Beach Atlantic University for two seasons. He helped Palm Beach Atlantic record back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2003-05. In 2023-24, the Sailfish posted their second-highest winning percentage in the program’s NCAA Division II era. PBA posted its best conference record since the 2019-20 season and earned a regional ranking for the first time since 2019-20.
Clark is no stranger to working with a high-scoring offense. This past season, Palm Beach Atlantic averaged 84.9 points and 17 assists per game. The Sailfish ranked 28th in the nation in scoring and 15th in assists.
Before joining the Palm Beach Atlantic program, Clark was an assistant coach, defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at Georgia Southwestern State University from 2020 to 2022. During his time with the Hurricanes, GSW led the Peach Belt Conference in forced turnovers, and was the only team in the nation to finish in the top five in both steals and blocks per game. Georgia Southwestern earned an NCAA Tournament bid in 2020-21.
Clark was an assistant coach at Young Harris College during the 2019-20 season. He helped develop an all-conference guard who led the country in assists per game and finished seventh in steals per game. As the offensive coordinator, Clark helped the Mountain Lions lead the Peach Belt Conference in scoring (87.5 ppg) and 3-pointers made per game (11.6).
Prior to entering college coaching, Clark spent two years at Groundwork Player Development as the director of basketball operations. He founded the organization's travel ball program and developed players who went on to play professionally in Australia, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Estonia and Africa.
Clark played at Pfeiffer University where he was a 4-year team captain and 3-time team MVP. He earned third team All-America recognition as well. As a senior, Clark averaged 20 points, three assists and two rebounds per game. He helped Pfeiffer to a conference championship, an NCAA Tournament appearance and a top-25 national ranking.
Clark earned a bachelor’s degree in sport management from Pfeiffer in 2016. He completed a master’s degree in sport management in 2022 at West Georgia.
