Honors
- All-MVC: 2023 (2nd Team)
- MVC All-Defensive Team: 2022, 2023
- Preseason All-MVC: 2020-21 (2nd)
- MVC All-Freshman Team: 2020
- MVC Newcomer of the Week: 3/1/20
- MVC Honor Roll: 2023
- MSU Athletic Director's Honor Roll: (Spring 2023)
2022-23 (Senior 1)
All-MVC second-team and MVC All-Defensive Team selection in his first senior season ... Ranked in top 20 in The Valley in scoring (19th) and rebounding (17th), while also ranking 6th in blocks (0.97) and 7th in assists (3.60) ... In league games, Clay averaged 14.7 points per game, which was 9th-best in the MVC ... Led Bears in scoring (11.9), field goals (139), FG attempts (297), free throws (62), free throw attempts (92) and assists (108) ... Became first Bear since Josh Webster (2018-19) to post 100 assists in a season ... Started 28 of 30 appearances ... Led Bears in scoring 10 times, rebounding 11 times and assists 16 times with a team-high 18 double-figure scoring games ... Logged game-high 18 points in loss to SIU in MVC Tournament (3/3/23) ... Tallied 6 assists and 7 rebounds in MVC Tournament win over UIC (3/2/23) with a pair of blocks ... Posted 15 points at Indiana State (2/26/23) in regular-season finale ... Had team-high 19 points to go with 8 rebounds and 7 assists in win over Murray State (2/21/23) at home ... Registered 11 points, 6 assists in home loss to UNI (2/18/23) ... Had team-high 16 points at Bradley (2/15/23) ... Had 2 clutch free throws in the final minute and racked up 17 points in win at Evansville (2/12/23) ... Scored game-high 18 points in home win over Belmont (2/8/23) ... . Notched 14 points at Murray State (1/28/23) ... Shared game-high honors with 19 points, 7 rebounds vs. UIC (1/24/23) at home ... Tallied 16 points, 6 assists in OT road win at Drake (1/18/23) ... Scored game-high and season-high 21 points in home win over Indiana State (1/15/23) ... ... Logged 20 points, 8 rebounds at Belmont (1/7/23) ... Narrowly missed a double-double with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists in win over Evansville (1/4/23) ... Had team-highs 15 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks in home win over Drake (1/1/23) while eclipsing 1,000 career points ... Posted team-high 17 points to go with 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 blocks at UIC (11/30/22) in Valley opener ... Logged 11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists in win over Oakland (11/27/22) in Nassau ... Had first double-figure scoring effort of season in win over Middle Tennessee (11/19/22) with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists and 3 steals ... Named to MVC Honor Roll ... Earned spot on MSU Athletic Director's Honor Roll for Spring 2023 semester.
2021-22 (Junior)
Started all 34 games in his first season with the Bears, averaging 8.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, while firing at a .537 clip from the floor and .745 percentage at the stripe ... Named to MVC All-Defensive Team ... Also logged 36 blocked shots on the season ... Ranked 3rd in the MVC in blocks per game (1.1) and 6th in rebounding, while placing 9th in the league in FG percentage and minutes per game (32.3) ... Averaged 0.9 blocks per game in league play, which ranked 5th among Valley shot blockers ... Also ranked among MVC leaders in conference-game only stats for defensive rebounding (4.8) - 5th; rebounding (6.1) - 6th; FG% (.556) - 7th; and minutes per game (32.1) - 13th ... Blocked 3 shots in NIT game at Oklahoma (3/15/22) with 6 points ... Posted 14 points vs. Drake (3/5/22) in MVC Semifinals with 10 rebounds and 45 minutes ... Scored 17 points, all in the first half, in MVC quarters vs. Valpo (3/4/22) with 3 treys ... Racked up 17 points on 7-of-7 FG with 7 rebounds vs. Bradley (2/3/22) ... Scored 10 points at UNI (2/20/22) ... Had game-highs 11 rebounds and 5 assists in win over Valpo (2/12/22) ... Posted team-high 8 rebounds to go with 8 points and 3 assists in win at SIU (2/2/22) ... Racked up 11 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists on his birthday in win over Evansville (1/29) while eclipsing 800 career points ... Season-high 3 steals at Indiana State (1/25/22) ... Racked up 16 points and was 6-of-9 from the field in win at No. 22 Loyola Chicago (1/22/22)... Had 10 points and 6 rebounds in win over Illinois State (1/19/22) with 3 assists ... Logged game-high 9 rebounds in return trip to Valpo (1/15/22) with 5 points ... Eclipsed 750 career points with 13-point effort in win over SIU (1/12/22) ... Scored team-high 15 points in home win over Drake (1/2/22) with 7 rebounds ... Logged first double-double as a Bear with 10 points, career-high 15 rebounds vs. Evangel (12/30/21) with 4 assists ... Had 11 points, 7 rebounds at St. Mary’s (12/22/21) with a pair of blocks ... Tallied 12 points, 7 rebounds in 40-minutes vs. South Dakota St. (12/15/21) ... Grabbed game-high 9 boards and dished out 4 assists at Little Rock (12/8/21) ... Snagged 8 boards in back-to-back games at Illinois St. (12/1/21) and vs. #12 BYU (12/4/21) ... Recorded 10 points vs. ETSU (10/23/21) on Florida swing ... Scored 20 points vs. SEMO (11/9/21) in his Missouri State debut, going 8-of-10 from the field with a pair of dunks.
2020-21 (Valpo)
Named to the Preseason All-MVC second team ... Started 26-of-28 games for Valpo his sophomore year, averaging 10.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game for a 10-18 squad ... Led Valpo squad in rebounding, assists, steals and minutes, while ranking 2nd on the squad in scoring ... Scored in double figures 14 times, including 3 games of 20+ points, and snagged double-figure rebounds 3 times ... Finished 15th in the conference in rebounds (5.5), 5th in blocks (1.3) and 6th in minutes played (32.5) ... In Valley games, Clay ranked 2nd in the league in minutes per game (33.9) -- just behind MSU's Isiaih Mosley (35.1) -- 3rd in blocks per game (1.1), 15th in rebounds (5.6) ... Registered season-high 21 points on 6-of-15 field goals with season-high 4 treys vs. Missouri State (1/9/21) with 5 assists against the Bears ... Produced 20 points at Central Michigan (12/12/20) with 8-of-13 field goals, season-best .615 FG percentage, and 5 rebounds ... Also posted 20 points and 12 rebounds at Illinois State (1/23/21) on 10-of-20 shooting -- all two-pointers -- Grabbed season-high 14 rebounds, 13 defensive, at Game 2 vs. Drake (2/7/21) and also made 7-of-9 free throws vs. Bulldogs ... Dished out 4 assists in Game 1 vs. Drake (2/6/21) ... Snagged 13 caroms at Toledo (12/19/20) to go with 17 points for his first career double-double ... Dropped in 3 triples and scored 17 points Game 2 vs. Bradley (2/10/21) ... Registered 15 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists in Game 1 vs. Bradley (1/28/21) ... Was 7-for-14 from the field for 14 points at Evansville (2/1/21) ... Posted 11 points and 7 rebounds vs. Indiana State (2/26/21)
2019-20 (Valpo)
Named to MVC All-Freshman Team ... Played in all 35 games with 33 starts as a true freshman at Valparaiso University for coach Matt Lottich ... Averaged 9.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game to finish 3rd and 2nd on the team, respectively ... His 36 blocked shots (1.0) led the team and ranked 7th in the MVC ... Helped team to 19-16 overall ledger and trip to MVC Tournament finals vs. Bradley ... Posted 19 double-figure scoring games, including 8 contests outputs of 15+ points and two of 20+ points ... Grabbed 7 or more rebounds 11 times ... Led the Crusaders in scoring 5 times, rebounding 11 times and assists 5 times ... Scored 10.9 points per game in Valley action, 3rd on the squad ... Scored his first collegiate basket vs. Toledo (11/5/19) ... Made his first career start in a game near his hometown of Alton, Ill. at SIUE (11/12/19), scoring 5 points ... Had the first double-figure scoring output of his collegiate career in a win over Grand Canyon (11/22/19) ... Scored in double figures in five straight games from 11/27/19 to 12/18/19 ... Scored a team-high 21 points vs. Loyola (12/30/19) in his MVC debut, going 8-for-8 from the field ... Reached double figures for the 7th time in 8 games at Evansville (1/4/20), contributing 10 points to go along with a team-high 7 rebounds ... Established a season best with 9 rebounds, including 6 offensive at Southern Illinois (1/7/20) ... Enjoyed an 18-point, 7-rebound performance on vs. Drake (1/11/20), both team highs, while going 7-for-7 at the stripe ... Scored 18 points vs. Indiana State (1/18/20) ... Logged a team-high 8 rebounds at Missouri State (1/23/20) in his debut at JQH Arena to go with 4 points and a pair of blocks ... Scored 13 second-half points to finish with 15 at Bradley (1/29/20) ... Had 5 assists and no turnovers in win over SIU (2/12/20) ... Reached double figures for the fourth time in 7 games by posting 15 points at Drake (2/19/20) ... Led Valpo in scoring with a career-high 22 points on 11-of-17 shooting with 7 rebounds in home win over Missouri State (2/25/20) ... Shared the team lead with 11 points and 5 rebounds at Indiana State (2/29/20) ... Named the MVC Newcomer of the Week on 3/1/20 after averaging 16.5 points and 6.0 rebounds over the final two games of the regular season ... Scored in double figures and had at least 7 rebounds in each of the first three games of the MVC Tournament in St. Louis ... Dished out a season-high seven assists in the MVC quarterfinal upset of Loyola (3/6/20) ... Had 10 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and a pair of triples in MVC Tournament semifinals vs. Missouri State (3/7/20).
High School
Earned Illinois Class 4A All-State first-team honors as a senior at Alton (Ill.) High ... Also earned St. Louis All-Metro first-team distinction ... Named the Riverbend Boys Basketball Player of the Year, the
Alton Telegraph Large-School Player of the Year and the biggest “sleeper” in the state of Illinois by the Chicago Sun-Times in 2018-19 ... Averaged 17.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.0 blocks for coach Eric Smith ... Scored 20 points or better in 13 games with 6 double-doubles ... Scored a season-high 27 points in a 58-49 loss to East St. Louis ... Converted a tip-in at the buzzer to clinch a 59-57 win over Collinsville at home ... Had a 21-point, 11-rebound performance in a win over Evanston, where he went 10-of-13 from the field ... Led the Centralia Holiday Tournament in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 19.5 points and 9.0 rebounds over four games ... In his senior campaign, he led the Redbirds to a 23-11 record, a Chik-Fil-A Classic title and a 4A Collinsville Regional championship during the 2018-19 season ... Was named MVP of the Chik-Fil-A Classic ... Entered high school as a 6-foot point guard and grew to 6-3 by his junior year before shooting up to 6-7 by graduation ... Played AAU with the Southwestern Illinois Jets.
Personal
Donovan La'Nell Clay was born 1/29/01 in Mt. Vernon, Ill. ... Son of Dexter Clay and Alicia Myers of Alton, Ill. ... Has two sisters, Ivy and Dominique ... Majoring in General Studies.
