Elijah Clarance

Elijah Clarance
No. 42 – Kalev/Cramo
PositionShooting guard
LeagueKorvpalli Meistriliiga
Estonian-Latvian Basketball League
FIBA Europe Cup
Personal information
Born (1998-07-03) 3 July 1998 (age 26)
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
2018–2019→Skyliners Juniors
2019–2020→Heroes Den Bosch
2020–2021Vrijednosnice Osijek
2021–2022Lovćen 1947
2022–2023VEF Rīga
2024Atomerőmű SE
2024Dorados de Chihuahua
2024–presentKalev/Cramo
Career highlights and awards

Elijah Marcus Clarance (born 3 July 1998) is a Swedish professional basketball player for BC Kalev of the Korvpalli Meistriliiga and the Estonian-Latvian Basketball League. Standing at 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in),[1] he plays as shooting guard.

Early career

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

College career

Clarance committed to play college basketball 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

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 2021–22 season.

On 23 December 2022, Clarance signed with VEF Rīga of the Latvian-Estonian League and the Basketball Champions League (BSL).[9] With VEF, Clarance won the Latvian League and the Latvian Cup of the 2022–23 season. He left the team on 9 November 2023.[10]

National team career

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.

Clarance made his debut for the senior national team at a 2024 FIBA Pre-Qualifying Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Personal life

Clarance is a Muslim. His mother is Swedish while his father was born in Trinidad.[11] Clarance's older brother is former professional basketball player Bilal Clarance.[12] 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.[13][14][15]

References

  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. 24 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 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. ^ "VEF Rīga sastāvu papildina zviedru basketbolists Elaiža Klarenss". vefriga.com (in Latvian). 23 December 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  10. ^ "Elijah Clarance left VEF Riga". eurobasket.com. 9 November 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  11. ^ "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 5 September 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ Gargallo, Eric. "Elijah Clarance talks his development and decision to turn pro". Eurospects. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  14. ^ Radio, Sveriges (9 September 2022). "Elijah Clarence räddades av Nicolas Lunabba - Morgonpasset i P3 – Gästen". sverigesradio.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  15. ^ "Will You Care If I Die? by Nicolas Lunabba". Pan Macmillan. Retrieved 5 December 2023.