Academy of Art University Athletics

Twitter: @_CoachPC

Gabe Palmquist-Clark joined the Academy of Art men's basketball coaching staff as an assistant coach in June 2021.

With the 2023-24 season closed out after earning a Pacific West Conference Regular Season Championship title for the first time in school history as they tied the most wins the squad has recorded in the regular season (20), Palmquist-Clark once again helped his team set numerous new program records as the team delivered the highest scoring average in the program's history with 80.4 points per contest. On the defensive end, the squad also broke the all-time record in steals average for the program as well, collecting 10.7 steals per game, while also blocking the second-most total shots (3.3). Over the course of the season, four ART U players put together a total of seven PacWest weekly awards, while three members would go on to earn All-PacWest team selections, two of which being First Team. In addition, Palmquist-Clark assisted coaching Latrell Williams in a career-season, as he was the first PacWest player to earn both Player of the Year and Defender of the Year in the same season, all while Jamal Fuller earned an additional second team selection to both the NABC All-West Region and D2CCA All-West Region teams after leading the conference in points per game.

In a strong encore to ART U's historic 2021-22 season, Palmquist Clark helped guide the Urban Knights to another in 2022-23 as Academy of Art went 22-10 overall and 14-6 in Pacific West Conference play for two new program record win totals. ART U won its first four games of the year and later closed the regular season with a six-game win streak before making it seven straight with an opening-round victory over Pacific West Conference Tournament host Chaminade. ART U then collected its first ever at-large bid to make its second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division II West Regional, where the Knights earned an overtime triumph in the opening round over Saint Martin's. Along the way, Academy of Art earned six PacWest weekly selections (three Knights accounting for five Defender of the Week honors) as well as three All-PacWest Team awards including Klay Brown and Mike Asante on the All-PacWest Second Team and Will Balata on the Third Team. Program records for the Urban Knights in 2022-23 included: being ranked in the NCAA West Region every week of the season while also being nationally ranked once in the D2SIDA poll and receiving votes in the NABC poll on Dec. 1; total wins (22); regular season wins (20); seven-game winning streak; wins by double digits (14); 30-point victories (four); 90-point games (10); rebounds (1,265); scoring margin (+8.2); scoring average (79.7 ppg). Additionally, ART U was still in the top-10 of multiple statistical categories including steals (327, second; first: 2021-22, 331) and scoring defense (71.5, third).

A memorable first season on staff for Palmquist-Clark saw quite a bit of history made as the program achieved a new record 20 victories, its first ever Pacific West Conference Tournament Championship, and the Urban Knights' first berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament. A six-game win streak began in late November and was highlighted by ART U's first regular season win over a NCAA DI opponent with a 79-60 victory at UC Davis on Nov. 28. Prior to rattling off five straight wins in early February, the team had its fifth Urban Knight be named PacWest Defender of the Week, giving the squad seven on the season (both of which are PacWest and ART U records). Head Coach Scott Waterman was named PacWest Coach of the Year while Klay Brown earned PacWest Defender of the Year and Latrell Williams made the All-PacWest Second Team. Playing three games in four days as the #4 seed in the PacWest Tournament, Academy of Art won a best-of-three season meetings with tourney host Fresno Pacific, topped #1 seed Point Loma on a clutch overtime 3-pointer by Brown, then bested #2 seed Azusa Pacific in the championship game with Mike Asante being named tournament MVP alongside PacWest All-Tournament Team selections Brown and Williams. The Knights would make their NCAA Tournament debut against No. 15 Chico State. By year's end, ART U had set numerous program records, including: overall wins (20), points scored (2,449), rebounds (1,203), scoring margin (+2.7; only positive scoring margin in program history), and field goal percentage defense (42.2 percent). Additionally, the Knights set a new program best in steals with 331 (fourth in NCAA DII) and steals per game at 10.3 (fourth in NCAA DII). The 331 steals are also a new PacWest record, topping the previous record of 328 set by Concordia during the 2018-19 season. Meanwhile, the Knights also set their second-best program marks in scoring average (77.6 ppg) and assists (423).

With Northeastern Oklahoma A&M men’s basketball for the 2020-21 season, Palmquist-Clark served as an assistant coach, helping guide the Norsemen to a 14-9 record and an appearance in the NJCAA Region II Semifinals. Over the two years prior, he worked as an assistant coach for Howard College men’s basketball in Texas, working with current Urban Knights Mike Asante and Klay Brown during that time. The Hawks went 34-22 in these two seasons, finishing third in the WJCAC conference and being ranked as high as No. 12 in the Massey Ratings. Additionally, Howard achieved the fifth and eighth highest team grade point averages in the country.

As an assistant coach, Palmquist-Clark was previously part of the Final Four run for Western Oregon men’s basketball in 2015-16. The Wolves capped that historic campaign with a 31-4 record after winning the GNAC regular season conference title, GNAC Tournament Championship, West Regional title, and finishing with a No. 3 national ranking. Along the way, WOU was at one point ranked No. 1 in the country and achieved the most wins in program history. Beyond the hardwood, Palmquist-Clark worked to engage the community as the coordinator of the Junior Wolves program and camp director.
 
Familiar with the Pacific West Conference, Palmquist-Clark was an assistant coach at Holy Names prior to Western Oregon. His responsibilities included scouting reports, recruiting, big men skill development, and video coordinating.

In addition to his NCAA Division II experience, Palmquist-Clark assisted at various other junior college programs including Vincennes University, Kilgore College, and Lane Community College.

Palmquist-Clark, a four-year scholar athlete at Cleveland High School, earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Sports Business from the University of Oregon in 2014 and later graduated from Western Oregon with his master's degree in Science Education (Curriculum and Instruction) in 2016.