Prep's former jack-of-all-trades now master of one

REMEMBER the old commercials with multisport star Bo Jackson clad in different types of athletic equipment?

Well, before Chris Clover starred on the basketball court for St. Joseph's Prep, you could find him in football pads or fiddling a lacrosse stick or perhaps even on ice skates.

In fact, the West Philadelphia resident took up ice hockey at about age 10 at The Laura Sims Skate House, gliding effortlessly as he perfected his stick work.

Well, not exactly.

"I mean, at first it was kind of bad, because the skates weren't really that sharp, and I kept falling and getting up," Clover said yesterday after Prep routed visiting Bishop McDevitt, 75-42.

"But, I had fun. I had equipment on, so it didn't really hurt, and I just had fun falling."

He stuck with hockey that entire season and said it took about a month to finally find his footing. However, he stopped a month into the next season because of basketball.

And yesterday did nothing to invalidate that decision.

Clover, a Saint Joseph's University commit, scored 26 points (11-for-16 shooting) and added eight rebounds. He also hit four of five attempts from beyond the arc.

By halftime, Clover had outscored the Lancers by a point, with the Hawks ahead, 33-14.

Also for the Prep (13-1, 5-0), Jack Henkels scored 14 points, while James McGovern added 10 points and nine assists.

For the Lancers (5-9, 0-5), Qadir Burgess scored 14 points, and Fateem Jackson grabbed seven rebounds.

However, Clover's offensive versatility was too much. The 6-3 forward scored on drives, put-backs and jump shots.

Just don't credit his current coordination to his hockey days.

"I don't know," he laughed. "I can't put all that together now. I don't know. Nah, I don't think . . . I don't think so!"

That goes for lacrosse, too. In seventh grade, Clover said he stopped a classmate who walked by with a stick.

"I was, like, 'What's that?' " he said. "I picked it up and started to learn how to fiddle with it, but I never played for a team."

He also tried freshman football at the Prep before dedicating himself fully to hoops.

For more validation, last week, Clover added his name to the Prep's 1,000-career-points list. Now, his eyes are set on the Catholic League semifinals at the Palestra.

"Being on that list means a lot to me," he said. "That was one of my goals this season. I accomplished that, so I just want to keep it rolling, keep my head on straight, keep focused and maybe get back to the Palestra."