RICHMOND, Ky. – AJ Clark, who served as an assistant coach at Palm Beach Atlantic University the past two seasons, has joined the coaching staff at Eastern Kentucky University.
Clark 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.
“I’m so excited to welcome AJ to 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.”
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.
EKU won the 2023-24 Atlantic Sun Conference Regular Season Championship, the program’s first regular season conference title in 45 years. Hamilton was chosen as the ASUN Coach of the Year and the NABC District III Coach of the Year. He is the first coach in program history to be named conference coach of the year twice.