After months of waiting, Lincoln corner Clark pounces on offer, commits to Boise State
It didn’t take long for Lincoln High School defensive back Jaylen Clark to accept a scholarship offer from Boise State’s football program.
In fact, he accepted and verbally committed to the Broncos over the phone, immediately after cornerbacks coach Jalil Brown officially extended the offer on Tuesday night.
“I wasn’t wasting any time,” Clark said.
The next call Clark made was to his mom — and yes, tears were shed. For Clark, his recruiting journey has been nothing short of a lesson in patience. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound corner saw offers from Arizona and Colorado fall through after coaching changes at the school. He could’ve had his pick of FCS programs, but always had his sights set on joining an FBS program.
Clark watched as his teammate and fellow corner, Donovan Clark (unrelated), signed with Boise State on National Signing Day. During a game during the high school season against Bonney Lake, Jaylen met Brown, who was there watching Donovan at the game.
“Just staying patient,” Clark said. “Donovan introduced me to (Brown). We were in constant communication since then. Even after signing day, he told me, ‘Stay with us, we’re going to try to work something out.’ I stayed patient until (Tuesday). They offered me a scholarship. I was tired of waiting. I was ready to roll.”
Clark will have the bonus of playing alongside his high school teammate, Donovan Clark, who grew close after Donovan transferred from Sumner to Lincoln for his senior season. When the opportunity arose, both were excited about the prospect of playing together.
“He was like, If they end up offering you, you’re going,’” Clark said, with a laugh. “He was telling me that I was going there. We kept having talks about playing together.”
Few people were likely happier than Lincoln coach Masaki Matsumoto, who has witnessed Clark’s immense growth — both on the field and in the classroom, where Clark worked to raise his GPA considerably — during the past two years at Lincoln.
“This was a real happy moment for our program,” Matsumoto said. “Me personally, just because I’ve seen him grow so much in the last two years at Lincoln. It was kind of devastating to not have him sign anywhere. We just kept the faith. He had some offers, but he had his eyes set on FBS. The waiting and being resilient paid off for him.”
Now, the dream will become a reality. In Jaylen Clark, Boise State is getting one of the state’s most productive two-way players. Clark put together his best year yet in his final high school season. He had four interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), 35 tackles and nine passes defensed. Offensively, he hauled in 52 receptions for 776 yards and 12 touchdowns. He was a first-team 3A PCL selection at wide receiver and defensive back and was named to The News Tribune’s 2019 All-Area team.
“They’re going to get a great player who’s competitive, works hard and is very athletic, long, smart,” Matsumoto said. “It’s going to help that him and Donovan are going together, in terms of accountability and having someone close.”
These days, a lot of big-time high school recruits are racking up offers as early as their freshmen and sophomore seasons. But Clark didn’t play his best high school football until later in his career. And his senior year was a true emergence of becoming one of the state’s top playmakers.
“He really epitomizes, ‘It’s not where you start, it’s how you finish,’” Matsumoto said. “Some kids just need maybe a different scenery, a little more structure and discipline. … It was a pleasure to help him. He helped a lot of our players and the program was able to help him. I’m super proud of how far he’s come. I know his mom’s super happy, she’s done a good job raising him. I’m stoked for both of them.”
This story was originally published May 1, 2020 at 2:00 PM.
