When Marvin Clark II looked to the near-sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden, everyone was there. His mother, Donette Collins-Miller. His younger brothers, Raaheem, Darius and Antone. His younger sisters, Antonikaa and Alaynna.
The first family member to ever go to college was on the court, being honored on St. John’s Senior Night.
Everyone had to be there.
“It was amazing,” Clark said, after scoring 18 points in the Red Storm’s 78-70 win over Seton Hall. “I tried not to think about it too much because I wanted to focus on the task at hand. It was everything I wanted it to be.”
There was no venue more fitting, no stage more deserved.
Long before the family made their first visit to New York, they spent significant time together at various homeless and domestic violence shelters in Kansas City.
Marvin Clark Sr. died of a heart attack when the St. John’s forward was 3 years old. Police broke down the family’s door four years later to arrest Clark’s stepfather for dealing drugs. His mother was involved in a string of abusive relationships. Money was tight. Home addresses became temporary.
“It’s honestly crazy to think about,” Clark said before the season, reflecting on his upbringing. “I’ve had to make a lot of sacrifices along the way, but being here now, it’s definitely a blessing.”
As Clark watched friends lured into gangs, he watched after his younger siblings, doing household chores and cooking. Clark’s work ethic carried over to the court, where the 6-foot-7 forward developed into a standout player, but academic struggles prompted him to transfer to Sunrise Christian Academy, roughly 300 miles from his family.
“It was tough because I didn’t want to leave my family,” Clark said during the 2015 NCAA Tournament. “But my mom told me it was all right to be a little selfish.”
Because it meant so much to the family.
“After all that he’s been through to be the man that he is today is just awesome to me,” Collins-Miller said in the 2013 YouTube documentary “I am Marvin Clark.” “The goals that he’s accomplishing are speaking more to his brothers and sisters, and to me, than him being here because it’s showing them that he can do it, too.”
Clark began college at Michigan State, where he set a freshman record by appearing in 39 games, and played in the Final Four. As a sophomore, Clark averaged just 9.7 minutes and knew his role would likely be diminished with the arrival of a highly-rated recruiting class, including future lottery pick Miles Bridges.
In Queens, Clark made an immediate impact after transferring and sitting out a season, averaging 12.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.2 steals in nearly 31 minutes per game, shooting 41.1 percent from the perimeter.
“That was my whole point in coming here, to bet on myself,” Clark recently said. “I would take myself, a hundred times out of a hundred times.”
Now, Clark is the heart of a team likely headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four years, the leader of a team as talented as any in the Big East.
“That is why I came here. That was the ultimate goal. Come here and help bring this program back to prominence,” Clark said. “Obviously, we are not done yet, but I can see the horizon. We are getting there. I can see the lights. We just have to finish it up. ”
The finish is near. Everyone had to be there to see it.