BIO: Mitch Clarke was born in Perth (WA) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Perry Lakes basketball program.

Clarke joined the Perth Wildcats Academy in 2018 and was a part of their Preseason training squads for three seasons before impressing Wildcats coaches at the 2021 NBL Blitz Preseason tournament in Tasmania. Clarke played in all five of the Wildcat’s Preseason games, adding 3.8 points and 1.2 assists per game. Clarke was then quickly signed to a one-year deal as a development player on the eve of the Wildcat’s 2021/22 season-opener.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Mitchell Clarke made his NBL debut with the Perth Wildcats at 22 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

This season, Perth would see Trevor Gleeson, who coached the team to five championships in seven seasons, leave to coach in the NBA with the Toronto Raptors. The Wildcats would then suffer another blow, losing mid-season signing Will Magnay and half of Perth’s bench rotation (Clint Steindl, Jarrad Weeks, and Jarred Bairstow), all signing multi-year deals to play for Tasmania under former Wildcats assistant Scott Roth.

Perth then looked to rebuild its squad, bringing in US coach Scott Morrison to replace Gleeson, adding imports Vic Law (via Brisbane) Michael Frazier III and signing Matthew Hodgson (via Brisbane) with their last free roster spot.

Perth played its first five games at home before playing 14 games away due to the border closures resulting from COVID-19. Despite the obstacle of being away from family and friends, the Wildcats spent the majority of the year in the top four and were a consensus favourite to make the Grand Final.

Perth, who were second on the ladder (13-6), returned to Western Australia to play their last nine games, all at home. During that time, the team decided to replace Frazier with big man John Brown III, who flew into the country and began training only to receive the news that his former team would not provide a clearance in time for him to make the playoffs.

A season ending knee injury saw Law (20.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 1.7 assists) shut down with only a few games to go, while Cotton (22.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.4 steals) also missed several games during the run home. This resulted in Perth winning only three of their nine home games and heading into their last game needing to defeat South East Melbourne to reach the playoffs. Perth entered the game sitting in fourth place, with their playoff chances on the line, but when the team built a eight-point lead in the second half, it seemed a lock that the Wildcats would return to the playoffs for the 37th season in a row. The Phoenix, however, fought back and ended the Wildcats’ extraordinary run of finals campaigns with a thrilling two-point overtime win, ending the team’s run of consecutive playoff appearances, a streak which had begun in 1986.

As a development player, Clarke would struggled to find opportunities to play and failed to score in his four appearances.

Mitchell Clarke played one season in the NBL.

Dan Boyce (832 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.