Keeping the Legacy Alive
Glen Clem, Jr, son of former Walker/Bevill State basketball coach Glen Clem, recalls how the lessons his father taught him have brought him success on and off the court.
Words by Terrell Manasco | Images by Ryan McGill
The mid-70s—the era of bell bottoms and 8-track cassettes. After school, Maddox Middle School student Glen Clem, Jr. heads to Walker College gym, where his dad has coached basketball for the last 15 years. Noting the black cardboard in the windows, young Glen ducks in the back door and quietly takes a seat on the stage. On the court, several young men with beet-colored faces and sweat-soaked uniforms are engaged in one of Coach Clem’s notorious "bloodletting” practices—hence the blacked-out windows. Clem glances at his son and the drill-instructor demeanor vanishes for a moment. Tossing him a sly wink, he turns back to the players on the court.
Black cardboard and grueling practices were commonplace during the reign of Clem the First. A rugged oak tree from Ardmore, Alabama, with a voice like cannon fire, Glen Ray Clem commanded respect among his players, all of whom would gladly follow him off a cliff if asked, a sentiment shared by his son.
“My father was my hero,” says Glen from his Hendersonville, Tennessee, home. “He loved me in so many ways. He wanted me and my sister, and his players, to be good people and treat people with kindness.”
Born in 1965, Glen acquired his basketball education by watching his father mold boys into men. His classroom was the gym; his professor was an old school disciple of Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp who demanded 100% effort from everyone. “He always wanted me to strive for excellence, whether I was mowing the grass, washing the car, or playing golf,” Glen says. “He always told me, ‘I don't care if you play sports or not, but whatever you do, give 100%.’ He was a great dad. And I have an awesome mother who supported me as well.”
In his youth, Glen dreamed of playing in the NBA and practiced for hours in the college gym.
He began his sophomore year of high school as a 6’6,” 210-lb. starting point guard for the Walker Vikings and coach Phil Schumacher. By 12th grade, he was practicing alongside the Rebels.
“Glen was the first high school player I allowed to make a behind the back dribble because he did it successfully and with great ease,” says Schumacher. “He was the general on the basketball court—running the offense, breaking the press, and calling out other special situational plays. He made coaching a lot easier when he was on the basketball court. He was a fierce competitor and made his teammates better players.”
Glen made All-State his senior year and was voted MVP of the Region and of the County. In the summer of 1983, he was chosen MVP of the Alabama High School All-Star Game and Slam-Dunk Champ. “He wasn’t the best dunk artist,” adds Schumacher, “but he engaged the crowd into thinking he was.”
After being recruited by numerous four-year colleges including five SEC schools, Glen chose Vanderbilt University, where he played small forward and off guard for the Commodores and coach C.M. Newton. He graduated in 1987 with a B.A. in Economics.
While attending an NBA tryout Camp in the summer of ‘87, Glen was spotted by New York Knicks’ chief scout, Dick McGuire, and was drafted in the 5th round. That fall, he was sent to training camp, headed by the Knicks’ new head coach, Rick Pitino.
“I made it through rookie and free-agent camp,” Glen remembers. “I was there for six exhibition games and was cut five days before the season started.”
He spent three years in the Continental Basketball Association, now the NBA Developmental League, playing for the Albany Patroons, Rochester Flyers, Topeka Sizzlers, and the Rockford (IL) Lightning.
By the early ‘90s though, Glen had given up his dream of playing in the NBA. He was determined to remain in athletics, but not as a coach. A skilled golfer who had played at Musgrove Country Club as a teen, he accepted an offer to become the Assistant PGA Pro at Cedar Rock Country Club in North Carolina.
Three years later, Glen acquired his Class-A Golf Pro status. In 1995-96, he became the first head golf pro at Kiva Dunes Resort and Golf in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
During that time, Glen had become friends with Don Ochsenreiter, President of Burton Manufacturing, and in 1996, Ochsenreiter invited Glen to join the Burton team in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. “I love golf, but I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life working every weekend and holiday,” Glen explains.
Glen served as Burton Manufacturing’s Private Label Business Manager from 1996-2003 and was eventually promoted to Vice-President of Retail Sales. Since then, he has worked in high-level sales management for various other companies. He is now in his second year with PaperChef, a company offering culinary parchment cooking and baking products. “We oversee a team of brokers. We sell to Walmart, Sam's Club, Publix, Kroger, etc.,” he says.
Glen has two sons: Glen Ray Clem III, a recent high school graduate, and Jackson Christopher Clem, age 14. For the last seven years, he has coached a spring travel basketball team called Stars Basketball.
Whether on the court, the greens, or overseeing a sales team, Glen says he loves the competition as much as the teamwork. “If you’re going to excel in sports or anything in life, if you don't enjoy the grind, you're not going to be good,” he says. “I love the sweat, the pain, and the dedication to be successful. I just want to give back to kids like my dad did.” 78