Zach Clemence hoping to make an impact following redshirt season
During his first two seasons at Kansas, Zach Clemence, the 6-foot-11, 230-pound forward from San Antonio, Texas, appeared in 44 games. During those 44 games, Clemence averaged 1.8 points and 1.6 rebounds per game.
Offensively, Clemence connected on 35.1 percent of his field goals, 25.0 percent of his shots from behind the arc, and 45.7 percent of his free throws.
After last season, Clemence announced that he’d be transferring to UC Santa Barbra for a fresh start, but that transfer never actually took place. Instead, Clemence returned to Kansas and redshirted this past season.
With his redshirt season behind, Clemence is hoping to make an impact when the 2024-25 season kicks off in November.
“It’s great,” said Zach Clemence when asked how it feels to be back for summer school and back with his teammates. “It’s great to be back during the summer. The vibes are up and everybody is ready to get rolling.
“Just the improvement all around,” he added when asked what’s the biggest difference between the Zach Clemence last summer vs. the Zach Clemence now. “(Improvement) as a teammate and as a player. Everything has just improved, I feel like.”
Clemence, a member of the 2021 class from Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kan., arrived in Lawrence with the highest of expectations. After committing to Bill Self and the Jayhawks over the likes of Arkansas, Baylor, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech, Vanderbilt, and others, who grew up rooting for Kansas as a kid, was expected to make a splash early on in his career.
However, while Clemence had his moments at Kansas, he struggled to find a spot in the rotation during his first two years in Lawrence. After his sophomore year, the former four-star prospect announced that he’d be transferring to UC Santa Barbara, but that move in the transfer portal never actually took place.
Instead, Clemence returned to Kansas and decided to redshirt this past season. With the redshirt season behind him, does it feel different going into the season where Clemence knows he’s going to play as opposed to knowing he’s going to redshirt?
“No, because I think that’s a mindset kind of thing,” said Clemence. “Every practice I still went in it like I was about to play, so I think that’s what really helped me.”
Because of his height and skillset, Clemence is the type of player who can impact the game in a variety of ways. Whether he’s scoring down low, scoring from behind the arc, scoring in transition, or pulling down rebounds on blocking shots, he certainly isn’t a one-dimensional player.
Clemence, when asked where he fits in from a positional standpoint, is willing to do whatever it takes to help the 2024-25 reach the highest level of success.
“I feel like I’m a guy you can just plug in and do pretty much whatever you want,” he said. “Defense, scoring, or whatever.”
For a majority of last season, Self, when asked about Clemence, spoke highly of the native of San Antonio, Texas. Self made it quite clear that Clemence had a great attitude, was a great teammate, and was liked by all.
When Clemence decided to return to Kansas, did he change anything about himself or do things differently?
“No, but I think I just took it more as of a professional thing,” he said. “