Two of his recruiting classmates are in the NBA. Another, a fellow Colorado native, is spending his final collegiate season at Georgia Tech.
But Nique Clifford still is in Colorado. And he’s still getting better.
The former Buff continued his hot start on Wednesday night for Colorado State, and he will make what surely will be a dramatic return to the CU Events Center when the Rams visit CU in a rivalry renewal on Saturday night (6 p.m., ESPN+).
Clifford has faced his former team before, playing a key role in a CSU win, an 88-83 thriller last year in Fort Collins. Yet Saturday will mark the Colorado Springs native’s first return visit to the arena he called home for three seasons.
“Obviously the numbers he’s putting up are really good,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “He’s rebounding the ball. He’s assisting the ball. He’s doing a little bit of everything. Nique’s a good player. We knew that when we recruited him. He’s developed and he’s worked hard and has stayed true to his process. He’s a wonderful, wonderful young man. Great family. I’ve got a lot of love for Nique. I wish him the best in every game except for Saturday night.”
On Wednesday, Clifford posted a double-double before halftime of CSU’s home win against Loyola Marymount, finishing with 19 points, a career-high 17 rebounds, and six assists. Clifford surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career during the Rams’ win against TCU last week, posting another impressive double-double with 25 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.
Clifford was part of CU’s 2020 recruiting class, which included eventual NBA draft picks Jabari Walker and Tristan da Silva, as well as Luke O’Brien, the former Columbine standout who is spending his final collegiate season this year at Georgia Tech. Clifford spent three years in CU’s program, playing sparingly as a true freshman for the Buffs’ 2020-21 NCAA Tournament team.
Over the next two seasons, however, Clifford was a fixture in CU’s rotation, playing in all 68 games while making 50 starts. But Clifford struggled mightily in the second half of the 2022-23 campaign, finishing with a .374 overall field goal percentage, a .288 3-point percentage, and a .532 free throw percentage. Following that season, Clifford transferred to CSU.
Clifford found new life on CSU’s NCAA Tournament team last year, averaging 12.2 points and 7.6 rebounds, and he enjoyed a solid game against his old mates a year ago, recording 15 points and six rebounds in CSU’s win in Fort Collins. Clifford opted to use the extra season of eligibility granted by the NCAA for the COVID season of ’20-21 to return to CSU, and through the Rams’ 5-3 start this season, he has found yet another gear. He goes into his Events Center return averaging 18.9 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists with a .573 field goal percentage. All of those marks currently are career-highs.
“He’s been playing great. It’s cool to see him doing his thing,” said CU guard Julian Hammond III, a teammate for two seasons with Clifford. “Obviously he’s been their best player so far. We’ve just got to go in and look to slow him down in different ways. We have guys that have played with him, and Andrej (Jakimovski) has also played against him at Washington State. We’ll have guys to get after him.”
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