BELLA VISTA -- Former Arkansas guard Rotnei Clarke is working his way around the world playing professional basketball.
Last spring Clarke was in Australia. In three weeks he's headed to Belgium.
It's a path Clarke, 25, hopes one day will help him earn a spot with an NBA team.
"As soon as possible," Clarke said of his timetable for playing in the NBA. "We'll see how it goes."
For now Clarke and his new bride, the former Patricia Elliott of Little Rock, are living in Fayetteville. They were married June 7.
"I still look at Fayetteville as my home," Clarke said Friday before playing golf in the Northwest Arkansas Razorback Club Celebrity Scramble with some of his new in-laws. "I had a great time when I played here. It's an awesome place to live, and I can definitely see myself ending up here when I'm done playing basketball."
Clarke, who finished his college career at Butler, was Most Valuable Player in the Australian National Basketball League, where he starred for the Wollongong Hawks. In 30 games, he averaged 21.1 points and 3.4 assists and hit 95 three-point baskets. His high-scoring games were 39, 37 and 36 points.
"I went into a situation that was really good," Clarke said. "I was able to play immediately and play a lot of minutes."
After starring in Australia, Clarke signed a 10-month contract to play in Belgium for Okapi Aalstar. The Belgium League season starts in late September.
"It's cool, it's a blessing," Clarke said of playing internationally. "Obviously, I want to be able to play here in the States. That's my ultimate goal. But it's not bad, just getting married and being able to travel the world and go to Europe. It's a good opportunity, and hopefully I can keep moving up."
Clarke came to Arkansas after becoming Oklahoma's all-time high school scorer with 3,758 points at Verdigris.
In three seasons with the Razorbacks, Clarke scored scored 1,306 points to rank 21st on Arkansas' career list. His 274 three-point baskets rank second on Arkansas' career list behind Pat Bradley's 366, and he set the school single-game scoring record with 51 points against Alcorn State as a sophomore in the 2009-2010 season opener when he hit a school-record 13 of 17 three-point baskets.
Clark averaged a team-high 15.2 points as a junior and was voted to the All-SEC second team by the coaches and was honorable mention All-SEC in a media vote.
After John Pelphrey was fired as the Razorbacks' coach and Mike Anderson was hired, Clarke received a scholarship release and transferred to Butler.
"It's the toughest decision I've ever had to make in my life," Clarke said. "I didn't want to leave after being here three years, but at some point you've got to take a step back and look, and I just felt it was right in my heart.
"I really focused on trying to further my career and have a chance to play in the [NCAA] Tournament."
After redshirting at Butler, Clarke finally got to play in the 2013 NCAA Tournament as a fifth-year senior. He scored 17 points in Butler's 68-56 victory over Bucknell in the Bulldogs' NCAA Tournament opener, then scored 24 points in his final college game when Marquette beat Butler 74-72.
Clarke called playing in the NCAA Tournament a dream come true.
"Obviously, it didn't end the way we wanted it to, but to be able to experience the NCAA Tournament was something very special," he said. "It's what I'd been working toward my entire life."
Clarke said while redshirting at Butler he underwent surgery on both ankles.
"It ended up being a blessing in disguise because I found something was wrong with my ankles," he said. "It was something I was born with, I guess, and it was causing pain while I was here, and I finally got it taken care of the year I sat out."
Clarke averaged a team-high 16.9 points at Butler and helped the Bulldogs finish 27-9. He hit 115 three-point baskets, giving him 389 for his career to rank 15th on the NCAA's all-time list.
"It was an awesome experience," Clarke said. "To be able to play for a coach like Brad Stevens really helped me out a lot as a player."
Stevens is now coaching the NBA's Boston Celtics.
"I'd love to play for him again, especially now that he's with Boston," Clarke said with a laugh.
Clarke said he keeps up with the Razorbacks and cheers for them in all sports, especially basketball.
"I know Coach Anderson has his team going in the right direction," he said. "They've got the excitement back, and they're really playing well. I feel like they could really take off this next year."
Clarke said he's proud to have his name in Arkansas' record book, has good memories of his time with the Razorbacks and is always treated well by the fans.
"Everywhere I go, I still see people that recognize me," he said. "They treat me like I never left, and that's the awesome thing about Fayetteville and about Arkansas as a state.
"I still feel I'm a Hog in my heart, too."
Sports on 07/26/2014