His father,
Sam Clancy Sr., played basketball at
University of Pittsburgh, and went on to play defensive end in the
NFL for
Seattle Seahawks,
Cleveland Browns and
Indianapolis Colts. Sam Jr. was born while Sam Sr. was still at Pitt. During his stint with the Browns, Sam Sr. kept a home in the southern Cleveland suburb of
Strongsville, OH. Accordingly, the young Clancy attended
St. Edward High School, located in nearby Lakewood, Ohio. He starred alongside
Steve Logan, leading St. Edward to the 1998
Ohio High School Athletic Association State "big school" basketball championship during their senior year. He graduated in 1998. In 2009, St. Edward named Clancy to the school's Athletic Hall of Fame. Clancy attended
University of Southern California, majoring in
sociology, and played basketball for the
Trojans. After the 2001 season, he declared for the
2001 NBA draft. However, he never signed with an agent and withdrew his name from consideration prior to the draft. In 2002, which was his senior year, he was named the
Pac-10 Player of the Year and
Associated Press second team
All-American. He finished his USC career as the all-time leader in blocked shots (195), third all-time in points (1,657), second in rebounds (839), second in fouls (1193) and fifth in steals (134). In March 2016 Clancy was inducted into the Pac-12 Men's Basketball Hall of Honor, during a ceremony prior to the championship game at the 2016 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. ==Pro career==