James “Gym” Clark – Coach 1972-2003
After setting a single game scoring record at the College of Sequoias, and an outstanding three year career Cal Poly, SLO, James, a native of St. Louis, Missouri, started his coaching career in 1962 at Azusa High School in Monrovia, California. He became the assistant coach at La Qunita High School in Westminster in 1964. In 1966, James became the first African American basketball coach at Los Amigo High School in Fountain Valley.
“Gym”, as he nicknamed himself, interviewed at Stanford University, the University of Oregon and Cosumnes River College in 1972. He was offered a job at both Stanford and Cosumnes River. The job at Stanford was an assistant coaching position and Jim wanted to be a head coach. Therefore, he decided on Sacramento over Palo Alto. Coach Clark was hired as an instructor and the Men’s Basketball Coach at Cosumnes River College in 1972. He was proud to be one of the first African American Coaches hired in the California Community College system.
Coach Clark coached over 900 games in his 31 years at CRC. His teams won two Valley Conference Championships (1975 & 1977) and two Bay Valley Conference Championships (1985 & 1986). Under his direction, CRC competed in sixteen Northern California Regional Tournaments and made it to the State Tournament twice. He coached numerous “All-Conference Players”, several have been selected to the “All Northern California” Regional Team and two have been named to the “All State Team”. Eight of his players have been named as the “Most Valuable Athlete” at CRC and one received “Most Outstanding Athlete” honors. One of his players, Mark Hunter, won the CRC “Pepsi Scholar Athlete” Award in 1994.
When asked what they liked best about Coach Clark, his players said, “The best thing about Coach Clark was that he helped young men redefine their lives. Not only did he coach basketball, but he always loved us and cared about us”.
In addition to his basketball coaching duties, Jim served Cosumnes River College as an assistant softball coach for ten seasons from 1981-1990.
Jim was named the Valley Conference “Coach of the Year” in 1975. This same year, he was named “Outstanding Community College Coach” by the Sacramento Athletic Hall of Fame. In 1985, Coach Clark was given the Bay Valley Conference “Coach of the Year” award and he received special recognition from the State Senate in the mid 80’s for his work in the Sacramento Community putting on camps and clinics for area youngsters. In 1994, James received “Coach of the Year” honors from the Bay Valley Conference and the California Community College Men’s Basketball Coaches Association. He was inducted into the California Community College Men’s Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame last March.
Coach Clark passed away from multiple myeloma, a form of leukemia, in July 2003. CRC hosts an annual basketball tournament in his honor.