The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THIS NCAA basketball season will represent for Shaquille Cleare at the University of Texas as new Longhorns head coach Shaka Smart looks for the Bahamian native to provide a necessary element to the team.

The Longhorns began practice this week and according to Smart, the 6’8” 270-pound transfer from the Maryland Terrapins may find himself in the rotation with his intangibles.

“He has an edge to him, and we want to cultivate that,” Smart said. “We have good experience, good depth. We just have to keep finding ways to get tougher minded. We have to get some guys who take a high level of accountability for their own details maybe earlier than they ever have in their careers. Still remains to be seen, but if we had a game today, I would probably go into the game wanting to try to play 10 or 11 guys. We’ve got 12 scholarship guys, and I think they’re all in the conversation as of right now.”

After a pair of disappointing seasons, Cleare looked for the “fresh start” to his career to provide major dividends as he transferred from the Terrapins in the Atlantic Coast Conference to join the Longhorns in the Big 12.

“I decided to leave for a few reasons. I felt as if I needed a fresh start and I always wanted to play in the Big 12,” he said.

Cleare spent last season as a redshirt, ineligible to play, but worked out with the Longhorns and went through two-a-day practices routinely.

“Redshirting was a great year, I got a chance to workout everyday twice a day. I would workout, practice, then workout after practice. This summer when I left the Bahamas I was about 310 now I’m down to 270. So I lost a lot of weight,” he said. “I also had an opportunity to watch these guys play and going into the season I’m familiar with a lot of their games so it should be beneficial.”

Cleare committed to the Longhorns under head coach RIck Barnes. However, the Texas athletic department chose to go in another direction this offseason when Barnes was replaced by former VCU head coach Smart.

“It doesn’t change much for me. I’m just going to go play and get better everyday,” Cleare said. “Coach Smart is a mastermind and one of the greatest coaches I’ve ever been around. He’s a player developer. He has a great personality and loves to be around his team. He’s all about building relationships.

The Androsian native said he looks to pattern his game after NBA power forwards David West, Zach Randolph and Nene.

“My biggest thing this season was conditioning, trying to be in the best shape possible. If you are in better shape, you can do more and play longer. A lot of guys go through the motion because you’re tired. This year I worked on conditioning, shooting, being explosive around the basket, second jump, all the things guys don’t want to work on I tried to improve,” he said. “Compared to freshman year my game will be more developed, I have a lot more confidence. I think my rhythm has changed and a lot of the moves will be second nature.”

Cleare joined the Terrapins’ programme as a highly touted recruit out of the Village School in Houston, Texas, where he averaged 26.5 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks per game.

He was listed as the No.30 overall prospect by ESPN and No.53 by Rivals.com for the Class of 2012.

Following his stellar high school career, Cleare appeared in 37 of 38 games for the Terps, including eight starts. He averaged 3.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in 12 minutes per game as the team finished 25-13, 8-10 in the ACC.

He scored in double figures three times during his freshman season, including 10 points against Georgia Southern, 10 points and six rebounds against Clemson, and a season high 12 points against Maryland Eastern Shore.

After a promising freshman year, Cleare was pegged as a starter by head coach Mark Turgeon, but eventually split minutes and lost time to reserve forward Charles Mitchell.

As a sophomore, Cleare averaged three points and 2.5 rebounds in 13.8 minutes per game while appearing in all 32 games with 20 starts.