Magical night for Keon

Steve Carp

Thursday, June 25, 1998 | 10:43 a.m.

The last time Keon Clark was in Orlando, he wound up missing nearly half the basketball season as a result. Hopefully, he'll have better luck with his extended stay the second time around.

The former UNLV center will get to take as many trips to Disneyworld as he likes because he'll be able to afford it. The Orlando Magic made Clark the 13th pick overall in Wednesday's NBA draft.

Clark will be greeted by at least one familiar face as Orlando took Utah center Michael Doleac right in front of him at No. 12. The Magic, which had three picks in the first 15, then took Georgia Tech forward Matt Harpring at No. 15.

Clark watched the proceedings from his Danville, Ill., home with family and friends, then went out to celebrate after receiving the good news from general manager John Gabriel.

"The one thing I said in a few pre-draft interviews was that we weren't sure if we were going to be able to acquire big players after Michael Olowokandi went with the first pick," Gabriel said. "We felt that as in most drafts, the majority of the big players would be taken soon after the top three picks.

"That wasn't the case, so we felt very fortunate to grab onto the two big players that we did.

Gabriel called Clark a special player.

"This guy does some things above the rim that I've never seen many guys do in our league, let alone college basketball," Gabriel said of the 6-foot-11, 224-pound Clark.

Clark gives the Magic a shot-blocking presence, something it hasn't had since Shaquille O'Neal left for the Los Angeles Lakers two years ago. His ability to run the floor and pass also makes him a valued commodity.

Still, the Magic is wary of Clark's off-the-court past. Fourteen months ago, he took a trip to Orlando (after the Rebels were ousted in the quarterfinals of the NIT) as the guest of two Florida sports agents.

When coach Bill Bayno got wind of the trip (which was arranged by Clark's teammate Kevin Simmons), he reported it to university officials, who self-reported the violation to the NCAA.

Even though Clark cut the trip short, didn't accept anything else from the agents and admitted the violation, the NCAA suspended him for the first 11 games of the 1997-98 season.

Clark played in just 10 games, averaging 14.8 points and 8.6 rebounds. In early February, he failed a school-imposed drug test, testing positive for marijuana. He never played again, his last game as a collegian coming Feb. 5 at Air Force.

Magic coach Chuck Daly concedes there's a risk with Clark.

"It's always a concern," Daly said of Clark's past. "But we'll have to deal with it and see what happens."

To that extent, Gabriel will ask Hall of Famer Julius Erving to mentor Clark over the coming months.

"He's got some baggage," Erving said of Clark. "But John put him in my court to take care of him."

Given the Magic's need for size up front, Clark will get every chance to show that he has turned the corner. His agent, Tony Dutt, said Clark is a different person these days.

Daly said on the court, Clark reminds him of another former Rebel, Stacey Augmon.

"He does some dramatic things finishing when he catches the ball underneath.

"I thought he was the most athletic big man, by far, in the draft."

Others thought the same thing. The Boston Celtics supposedly were ready to tab Clark with the No. 10 pick. But when Kansas' Paul Pierce inexplicably still was on the board when it was the Celtics' turn, they felt compelled to take the All-American.

The Magic had three picks. And when it took Doleac at No. 12, it appeared Clark might slip further, possibly to Houston, which was looking for size at No. 14.

But Orlando went right back to the big man's rack and took Clark. He became the first UNLV player to go in the first round since J.R. Rider was taken by Minnesota at No. 5 in 1993, Clark is the sixth first-round Rebel to be drafted in the '90s, joining Augmon, Rider, Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony and Elmore Spencer.

If nothing else, Clark will give the Magic a bigger look.

"We'd go into hotels and look like a high school team," Daly said. "We played small in a lot of ways last season and I think we did something about that."