The Indiana Hoosiers have hired an ace recruiter away from the University of Tennessee as Darian DeVries continues to build his coaching staff. According to reports, Rod Clark, 32, joins Drew Adams, Kenny Johnson and Nick Norton as known assistants for the Indiana Hoosiers. IU is also hiring Mike Bargen and Garrett Sturtz in administrative positions. DeVries is expected to hire at least one more assistant to help lead the program.

Clark was hired by Tennessee in 2021 by current Volunteers head coach Rick Barnes. At the time, Barnes was quoted as saying, “We had an opportunity to be very selective in making this hire, and I couldn’t be more excited about adding Rod to our staff. We weren’t the only high-major program who wanted him…I know he is going to connect with our players in a special way.”

The hire paid off for Tennessee as the Volunteers have experienced great success since 2021. Clark was the lead recruiter for NBA Draft picks Kennedy Chandler, Julian Phillips and Dalton Knecht and has been credited with playing a key role in the development of each of them. Prior to the Tennessee hire, Rod Clark was an assistant for two seasons at Austin Peay, two seasons at Illinois-Chicago, three seasons at prestigious prep school Sunrise Academy in Kansas and he served as a coach with top AAU program MoKan Elite. Clark is still young and he’s continuing to improve, something he spoke about to Tennessee site VolQuest after last season, “I know I’m only going to get better,” Clark said. “I know I’m only going to continue to be smarter and wiser with this whole experience. Guys like Dalton give me the affirmation I need to understand like, okay, I’m getting pretty good at this. So I’m only going to keep growing, getting wiser and guys like him (Dalton Knecht) is what helps me.”

The 32-year-old Clark was born in Kansas City, Missouri and he attended Lee’s Summit West High School before playing collegiately in junior college and at the NAIA level.