KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Oak Park senior Ty Clemens splits his time between the court, the field and the classroom.
"He's really what you call a student-athlete, good student, performs well on the court, good leader, team captain," said Oak Park head basketball coach Brennan Scanlon.
And while it can be quite the undertaking to balance school and athletics, Clemens has his supporters to thank.
"It's a lot of hard work. My parents have helped me handle all of it," Ty said.
Luckily, both his mom and dad are just down the hallway — his mom is a counselor at Oak Park while his Dad is the head football coach.
Ken Clemens says it's been a blessing to coach his son and watch him develop.
"He's grown beyond what we anticipated he would, and we're proud of him not because of what he can do athletically, but just because of the man that he is," he said.
Ty, a forward on the court and starting quarterback on the field, is constantly aware of time management. He says finding balance is a huge reason he ranks 3rd in his class with a 3.98 GPA.
"It's a lot of sports, at home and at school," Ty said. "Everybody is talking to me about sports ... practice really never ends especially in football season because when I'm home, [my dad] is still talking about plays."
But it's that special home life and school environment Ty says he will miss the most after graduating.
"I'm gonna miss the people — everybody around me, all the administrators, all my teammates. They are all great people," he said.
Ty plans to attend Dordt University to play football and study engineering.