TIGER RAG NEWS SERVICES
One of the stars of LSU first Final Four team in 1953, Ned Clark of Baton Rouge, passed away on Monday at the age of 92.
Clark was a familiar sight near center court at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center for home men’s basketball games for decades.
One of Clark’s last major appearances at the PMAC came in 2023 when he celebrated the 70th anniversary of the 1953 Tigers with his teammates, including All-American center and two-time NBA MVP Bob Pettit. The two remained friends throughout their lives.
Clark, a 6-foot-5 forward, went to Baton Rouge High School, Darlington Preparatory School, LSU, and the Banking School of the South. He graduated from LSU in 1955 and is a former U.S. Air Force captain. He also played on the LSU baseball team. Clark was honored as the school’s SEC Basketball Legend in 2010 at the SEC Tournament.
“I guess one of the significant things about our Final Four team was that we had three starters who were from the Baton Rouge area, which was pretty unique,” Clark said in a feature in the former Baton Rouge State-Times afternoon newspaper after his playing days.
Those three were Clark, Pettit and Norman Magee, who was from across the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge in Port Allen.
The 1953 Tigers had a 22-3 record and were ranked sixth in the polls. In the NCAA Tournament, they beat Lebanon Valley and Holy Cross in the Regionals at Raleigh, North Carolina, before losing to Indiana, 80-67, in a national semifinal at the Final Four in Kansas City.
The Tigers reached the Final Four despite not having Pettit for six games during the 1952-53 season because he had pneumonia. And LSU won all six games, partly because of Clark, who averaged 9.3 points and 9.8 rebounds a game that season.
“Every person sort of reached down and played a little bit better,” Clark said of the magical season. “That, I believe, strengthened our team. It gave us individual confidence in our own abilities.”
Clark’s 15.8 rebounding average in the 1954-55 season remains the second best total for a season in LSU history. He is fifth all-time to this day in total rebounds with 988 and eighth in career rebound average at 10 per game.
Clark was also on the search committee that ultimately hired Washington State assistant coach Dale Brown to be the Tigers’ head coach before the 1972-73 season. Brown took LSU to its next two Final Fours in 1981 and ’86 and coached for 25 years, winning four SEC regular season titles.
“He deserves enormous credit for his long hours and hard work in promoting interest in LSU Basketball,” Clark said of Brown in another interview. “It was not easy. There was a lot of pain and suffering to finally get talented people to come to LSU.”
Clark’s career in banking spanned more than 55 years and included the launching of two banks. He played an active role in numerous civic, professional and charitable organizations, serving in various capacities on the boards of United Givers, Junior Achievement of Greater Baton Rouge, the YMCA, LSU’s National L Club, The Rotary Club, United Way, Baton Rouge General, St. James Place, St. James Church, Baton Rouge Food Bank, the Boy Scouts and Cancer Services.
Clark is survived by his wife of 69 years, Laura O’Lenic Clark; daughters, Bryan Clark Fox (Ray) and Chrissie Clark Olsson (Don); son, EM Ned Clark, Jr. (Stacey); grandchildren, Harrison Fox (Megan), Hayden Fox, Bryan Olsson, Clark Olsson, Collyn Clark Stramwasser (Cristian), Matthew Clark (Caroline) and Camille Clark Theriot (Henri); and great-grandchildren, Tessa Clark, Sophie Stramwasser, Preston Stramwasser, Duke Clark, Millie Fox and Frankie Fox.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Willard Curtis Clark and Sally Swain Clark, and his sister, Nancy Clark Wait.
Pallbearers will be Harrison Fox, Matthew Clark, Hayden Fox, Bryan Olsson, Clark Olsson and John O’ Hearin. Honorary pallbearers are Dick Hearin and Robert Pettit, Jr.
A visitation will be held on March 27 at Rabenhorst Funeral Home on Government Street in Baton Rouge from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Visitation will resume on March 28 at St. James Episcopal Church from noon until the funeral at 1:30 p.m. Burial will follow at Greenoaks Memorial Park.
In memory of Ned, please consider giving to some of his favorite organizations, including Hospice of Baton Rouge, Baton Rouge Food Bank, St. James Episcopal Church and Cancer Services of Baton Rouge. The family is deeply grateful for his caregivers Donnie Batiste, Beverly Helm, Shaneika Finley, Shondell Gaines and Carolyn Clark. Special thanks to Latriecia Anderson and Debbie Sparacello from Hospice of Baton Rouge.
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