Indiana University Athletics
Staff Directory
Rod Clark
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
Rod Clark was named Assistant Coach for the Hoosiers on May 29, 2025. He is viewed as one of the rising stars of the coaching profession with half a decade of Division I coaching experience.
AT INDIANA
In his debut season at Indiana the Hoosiers finished 18-14 and 9-11 in Big Ten Conference play. IU played the nation’s 36th-hardest schedule with 14 games against opponents that made the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers earned marquee wins over No. 12 Purdue (Jan. 27), at UCLA (Jan. 31), and against Wisconsin (Feb. 7).
Clark helped senior guard Lamar Wilkerson garner All-Big Ten Second Team and All-Great Lakes District First Team accolades. Wilkerson averaged 20.9 points per game, the most by a Hoosier guard since Eric Gordon (2007-08), and upped his average to 23.2 points per B1G game, the most since George McGinnis (1970-71). He established program records for total points scored in Big Ten play (464), made 3-pointers in league play (70), made 3-pointers in a single game (10), and a Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall record for single-game scoring (44). Wilkerson became the second Hoosier in program history (Steve Alford, 1986-87) to make 100 3-pointers in a single season. Senior big man Sam Alexis set the school record for field goal percentage (68.7%) with a minimum of 100 made shots.
BEFORE BLOOMINGTON
Clark, a native of Kansas City, Mo., spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Tennessee under head coach Rick Barnes. The Volunteers went 109-36 in his four seasons and held a mark of 51-21 in SEC play during his tenure. Tennessee appeared in every AP Top 25 poll over his four seasons on staff, including finishing a program-best fifth three times. UT earned wins over 30 AP top 25 programs over the last four seasons, won two SEC Championships, and claimed the 2023 Battle 4 Atlantis title.
Tennessee heard their names called on Selection Sunday each of the four seasons and advanced to the second weekend on three occasions in the NCAA Tournament during his tenure. The Volunteers joined national runner-up Houston as the only programs to earn a top two seed in the NCAA Tournament in both 2024 and 2025. UT advanced to consecutive Elite Eight appearances, the second and third appearances in program history.
He helped coach nine total All-SEC honors, two SEC All-Freshman Team selections, five All-SEC Defensive Team plaudits, and the 2023-24 SEC Defensive Player of the Year. Three Vols, highlight by 2024 Consensus All-American Dalton Knecht, have been selected in the first 40 picks of the NBA Draft since 2022.
Statistically, UT ranked inside the top three in adjusted defensive efficiency via KenPom in each season and never allowed more than 68.0 points per contest.
Clark spent the 2020-21 season as an assistant coach at Austin Peay. The Governors posted a winning record and led the Ohio Valley Conference in offensive rebounding while ranking second in rebounding defense, third in turnover margin, and fourth in scoring. Terry Taylor won OVC Player of the Year, finishing the season inside the top 10 of Division I men’s hoops in both scoring (eighth, 21.6 ppg) and rebounding (seventh, 11.1 rpg).
Clark’s first stop as a collegiate coach came as an assistant coach at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2019-20. The Flames led the Horizon League in field-goal percentage defense, 3-point defense, and blocks per game. UIC finished the season a run to the 2020 Horizon League Tournament championship game.
From 2017-19, Clark honed his skills in player development, video breakdown, and scouting as the top assistant coach at Sunrise Christian Academy, a national prep basketball powerhouse in Bel Aire, Kan. The 2018-19 squad finished 22-5, earned a year-end No. 10 ranking, and made the program’s first-ever appearance at GEICO Nationals. In 2017-18, Sunrise Christian went 24-2 and finished the season ranked second nationally according to USA TODAY and MaxPreps.
Clark also spent time as a coach with the prestigious MoKan Elite program on the Nike EYBL circuit. MoKan Elite posted a 30-7 record in 2018 and reached the semifinals at the Nike Peach Jam. He built on that experience to guide MoKan Elite to the Peach Jam championship in 2019.
As a collegiate player, Clark spent his first two seasons at the junior college level, first at Neosho Community College in Chaunte, Kan., and then Redlands Community College in El Reno, Okla. He concluded his career at Lindsey Wilson College and received a degree in communications in 2015.
Clark and his wife, Alexis, have two daughters – Zara and Zuri.
AT INDIANA
In his debut season at Indiana the Hoosiers finished 18-14 and 9-11 in Big Ten Conference play. IU played the nation’s 36th-hardest schedule with 14 games against opponents that made the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers earned marquee wins over No. 12 Purdue (Jan. 27), at UCLA (Jan. 31), and against Wisconsin (Feb. 7).
Clark helped senior guard Lamar Wilkerson garner All-Big Ten Second Team and All-Great Lakes District First Team accolades. Wilkerson averaged 20.9 points per game, the most by a Hoosier guard since Eric Gordon (2007-08), and upped his average to 23.2 points per B1G game, the most since George McGinnis (1970-71). He established program records for total points scored in Big Ten play (464), made 3-pointers in league play (70), made 3-pointers in a single game (10), and a Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall record for single-game scoring (44). Wilkerson became the second Hoosier in program history (Steve Alford, 1986-87) to make 100 3-pointers in a single season. Senior big man Sam Alexis set the school record for field goal percentage (68.7%) with a minimum of 100 made shots.
BEFORE BLOOMINGTON
Clark, a native of Kansas City, Mo., spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Tennessee under head coach Rick Barnes. The Volunteers went 109-36 in his four seasons and held a mark of 51-21 in SEC play during his tenure. Tennessee appeared in every AP Top 25 poll over his four seasons on staff, including finishing a program-best fifth three times. UT earned wins over 30 AP top 25 programs over the last four seasons, won two SEC Championships, and claimed the 2023 Battle 4 Atlantis title.
Tennessee heard their names called on Selection Sunday each of the four seasons and advanced to the second weekend on three occasions in the NCAA Tournament during his tenure. The Volunteers joined national runner-up Houston as the only programs to earn a top two seed in the NCAA Tournament in both 2024 and 2025. UT advanced to consecutive Elite Eight appearances, the second and third appearances in program history.
He helped coach nine total All-SEC honors, two SEC All-Freshman Team selections, five All-SEC Defensive Team plaudits, and the 2023-24 SEC Defensive Player of the Year. Three Vols, highlight by 2024 Consensus All-American Dalton Knecht, have been selected in the first 40 picks of the NBA Draft since 2022.
Statistically, UT ranked inside the top three in adjusted defensive efficiency via KenPom in each season and never allowed more than 68.0 points per contest.
Clark spent the 2020-21 season as an assistant coach at Austin Peay. The Governors posted a winning record and led the Ohio Valley Conference in offensive rebounding while ranking second in rebounding defense, third in turnover margin, and fourth in scoring. Terry Taylor won OVC Player of the Year, finishing the season inside the top 10 of Division I men’s hoops in both scoring (eighth, 21.6 ppg) and rebounding (seventh, 11.1 rpg).
Clark’s first stop as a collegiate coach came as an assistant coach at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2019-20. The Flames led the Horizon League in field-goal percentage defense, 3-point defense, and blocks per game. UIC finished the season a run to the 2020 Horizon League Tournament championship game.
From 2017-19, Clark honed his skills in player development, video breakdown, and scouting as the top assistant coach at Sunrise Christian Academy, a national prep basketball powerhouse in Bel Aire, Kan. The 2018-19 squad finished 22-5, earned a year-end No. 10 ranking, and made the program’s first-ever appearance at GEICO Nationals. In 2017-18, Sunrise Christian went 24-2 and finished the season ranked second nationally according to USA TODAY and MaxPreps.
Clark also spent time as a coach with the prestigious MoKan Elite program on the Nike EYBL circuit. MoKan Elite posted a 30-7 record in 2018 and reached the semifinals at the Nike Peach Jam. He built on that experience to guide MoKan Elite to the Peach Jam championship in 2019.
As a collegiate player, Clark spent his first two seasons at the junior college level, first at Neosho Community College in Chaunte, Kan., and then Redlands Community College in El Reno, Okla. He concluded his career at Lindsey Wilson College and received a degree in communications in 2015.
Clark and his wife, Alexis, have two daughters – Zara and Zuri.
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