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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1931-12-09)December 9, 1931 (age 93) Owensboro, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Listed weight | 210 lb (95 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Owensboro (Owensboro, Kentucky) |
| College | Kentucky (1950–1954) |
| NBA draft | 1953: 3rd round, 22nd overall pick |
| Drafted by | Boston Celtics |
| Playing career | 1956–1969 |
| Position | Small forward |
| Number | 6, 17, 16 |
| Career history | |
Playing | |
| 1956–1966 | St. Louis Hawks |
| 1967–1969 | Dallas Chaparrals |
Coaching | |
| 1967–1970 | Dallas Chaparrals |
| Career highlights | |
| |
| Career NBA and ABA statistics | |
| Points | 14,780 (17.7 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 5,555 (6.6 rpg) |
| Assists | 2,646 (3.2 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
| Basketball Hall of Fame | |
| Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame | |
Clifford Oldham Hagan (born December 9, 1931)[1] is an American former professionalbasketball player. A 6′ 4″ forward[1] who excelled with thehook shot,[2] Hagan,nicknamed "Li’l Abner",[1] played his entire 10-yearNBA career (1956–1966) with theSt. Louis Hawks. He was also aplayer-coach for theDallas Chaparrals in the first two-plus years of theAmerican Basketball Association's existence (1967–1970).[3] Hagan is a five-time NBA All-Star and an ABA All-Star. He won an NCAA basketball championship in 1951 as a member of the Kentucky Wildcats, and he won an NBA championship with the Hawks in 1958.
Hagan played college basketball at theUniversity of Kentucky under legendary coachAdolph Rupp.[2] As a sophomore in 1951, he helped Kentucky win theNCAA championship with a 68–58 victory overKansas State.
In the fall of 1952, apoint shaving scandal involving three Kentucky players forced Kentucky to forfeit Hagan's senior season. Hagan graduated from Kentucky in 1953 and, as a result, became eligible for theNBA draft. Despite having graduated, and despite being drafted by theBoston Celtics, he returned to play at Kentucky for the 1953–1954 season. On December 5, 1953, Hagan set a Kentucky single-game record of 51 points; this performance would not be surpassed until 1970. After finishing the regular season with a perfect 25–0 record and a #1 ranking in theAssociated Press, Kentucky was offered a bid into theNCAA tournament. However, then-existing NCAA rules prohibited graduate students from participating in post-season play; the Wildcats declined the bid because their participation would have forced them to play without Hagan and two of his teammates. Hagan averaged 24 points per game that season.
At Kentucky, Hagan had scored 1,475 points,[4] which ranked him third in school history. He also grabbed 1,035 rebounds, which placed him second. In 1952 and 1954, he was named an All-American and was named First Team All-Southeastern Conference. His uniform number 6 was retired by the University of Kentucky.
Hagan served in the U.S. military for two years after being drafted. In both of his years in the military (1954 and 1955), Hagan, stationed atAndrews Air Force Base, won Worldwide Air Force basketball championships.
After his military service, Hagan andEd Macauley were traded to the St. Louis Hawks for the draft rights toBill Russell.[5] In Game 6 of the1957 NBA Finals on April 11, Hagan hit the game winningBuzzer beater shot to force Game 7 against the Boston Celtics, which is believed to be the first playoff buzzer-beater shot in NBA history.[6]
In 1958, the Hawks won the NBA championship, defeating the Boston Celtics 4–2 in theNBA Finals.[7] The Hawks won four Western Conference titles during Hagan's tenure with them.[citation needed] Hagan was named to five consecutiveNBA All-Star Games from 1958 to 1962.[1]
InThe Breaks of the Game,[full citation needed]David Halberstam wrote that Hagan was the only white star on the Hawks who welcomed African American teammates likeLenny Wilkens to the team and did not treat them with prejudice.
Hagan played 745 games over 10 NBA seasons. He scored 13,447 points for an 18.0 points per game average.[1]
In 1967, the Dallas Chaparrals of the newly formed ABA hired Hagan as aplayer-coach. Hagan became the oldest player in the ABA during that season due to his status with the team, as well as what could technically be considered the oldest undrafted ABA player in the league (in terms of players selected after the1967 ABA draft came and went) by that time. He scored 40 points in his team's first game. He also played in thefirst ABA All-Star Game that season, becoming the first player to play in all-star games in both the NBA and ABA. He retired as a player three games into the 1969–70 season and remained as coach of the Chaparrals until midway into the season.
Hagan played in 94 ABA games and scored 1,423 points for a 15.1 points per game average.[1]
| This section of abiography of a living persondoes notinclude anyreferences or sources. Please help by addingreliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourcedmust be removed immediately. Find sources: "Cliff Hagan" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(June 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
In 1972, Hagan returned to the University of Kentucky as the school's assistantathletic director and took over the top job in 1975. He was forced to resign due to recruiting and eligibility violations in November 1988 and was replaced by one-time Kentucky teammateC. M. Newton, the head basketball coach atVanderbilt University the year before.
Hagan was inducted into theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978.[2] He is the first former University of Kentucky player to be so honored.
In 1993, the University of Kentucky renamedits baseball field in honor of Hagan.[8]
Hagan married his wife, Martha, on September 4, 1954.[9]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| † | Won anNBA championship |
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956–57 | St. Louis | 67 | 14.5 | .361 | .690 | 3.7 | 1.3 | 5.5 |
| 1957–58† | St. Louis | 70 | 31.3 | .443 | .768 | 10.1 | 2.5 | 19.9 |
| 1958–59 | St. Louis | 72 | 37.5 | .456 | .774 | 10.9 | 3.4 | 23.7 |
| 1959–60 | St. Louis | 75 | 37.3 | .464 | .803 | 10.7 | 4.0 | 24.8 |
| 1960–61 | St. Louis | 77 | 35.1 | .444 | .820 | 9.3 | 4.9 | 22.1 |
| 1961–62 | St. Louis | 77 | 36.2 | .470 | .825 | 8.2 | 4.8 | 22.9 |
| 1962–63 | St. Louis | 79 | 21.7 | .465 | .800 | 4.3 | 2.4 | 15.5 |
| 1963–64 | St. Louis | 77 | 29.6 | .447 | .813 | 4.9 | 2.5 | 18.4 |
| 1964–65 | St. Louis | 77 | 22.6 | .436 | .799 | 3.6 | 1.8 | 13.0 |
| 1965–66 | St. Louis | 74 | 25.0 | .445 | .854 | 3.2 | 2.2 | 13.7 |
| 1967–68 | Dallas (ABA) | 56 | 31.0 | .489 | .789 | 6.0 | 4.9 | 18.2 |
| 1968–69 | Dallas (ABA) | 35 | 16.5 | .510 | .854 | 2.9 | 3.5 | 11.1 |
| 1969–70 | Dallas (ABA) | 3 | 9.0 | .615 | .500 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 5.7 |
| Career | 839 | 28.7 | .454 | .799 | 6.6 | 3.2 | 17.7 | |
| All-Star | 5 | 17.8 | .324 | 1.000 | 3.0 | 2.2 | 6.2 | |
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | St. Louis | 10 | 31.9 | .361 | .730 | 11.2 | 2.8 | 17.0 |
| 1958† | St. Louis | 11 | 38.0 | .502 | .838 | 10.5 | 3.4 | 27.7 |
| 1959 | St. Louis | 6 | 43.2 | .512 | .833 | 12.0 | 2.7 | 28.5 |
| 1960 | St. Louis | 14 | 38.9 | .422 | .817 | 9.9 | 3.9 | 24.2 |
| 1961 | St. Louis | 12 | 37.9 | .443 | .812 | 9.8 | 4.5 | 22.0 |
| 1963 | St. Louis | 11 | 23.2 | .464 | .698 | 5.0 | 3.1 | 18.5 |
| 1964 | St. Louis | 12 | 32.7 | .429 | .833 | 6.2 | 4.8 | 16.3 |
| 1965 | St. Louis | 4 | 30.8 | .453 | .500 | 6.5 | 1.8 | 18.5 |
| 1966 | St. Louis | 10 | 20.0 | .454 | .926 | 3.4 | 1.8 | 11.3 |
| 1968 | Dallas (ABA) | 3 | 23.3 | .378 | .692 | 4.3 | 3.0 | 12.3 |
| 1969 | Dallas (ABA) | 2 | 22.5 | .357 | .800 | 3.0 | 7.0 | 9.0 |
| Career | 95 | 32.4 | .451 | .798 | 8.0 | 3.5 | 19.9 | |
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas | 1967–68 | 78 | 46 | 32 | .590 | 2nd in Western | 8 | 4 | 4 | .500 | Lost in Division Finals |
| Dallas | 1968–69 | 78 | 41 | 37 | .526 | 4th in Western | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 | Lost in Division Semifinals |
| Dallas | 1969–70 | 43 | 22 | 21 | .512 | (resigned) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career[10] | 199 | 109 | 90 | .548 | 15 | 7 | 8 | .467 | |||
· Basketball Reference