Clifford Oldham Hagan (born December 9, 1931) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. A 6′ 4″ forward who excelled with the

hook shot In basketball, a hook shot is a play where the offensive player, usually turned perpendicular to the basket, gently throws the ball using a sweeping motion of the arm farther from the basket in an upward arc with a follow-through which ends over ...

, Hagan,

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

d "Li’l Abner", played his entire 10-year

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

career (1956–1966) with the

St. Louis Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at S ...

. He was also a

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

for the

Dallas Chaparrals The Dallas Chaparrals were a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The team moved to San Antonio, Texas, for the 1973–74 season and were renamed the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs joined the National Basketball Association ...

in the first two-plus years of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

's existence (1967–1970). 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.

College and military career

University of Kentucky

Hagan played college basketball at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

under legendary coach

Adolph Rupp Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was an American college basketball coach. Nicknamed the "Baron of the Bluegrass", he coached the University of Kentucky Wildcats to four NCAA Division I men's basketball tournam ...

. As a sophomore in 1951, he helped Kentucky win the NCAA championship with a 68–58 victory over Kansas State. Cliff Hagan UK

In the fall of 1952, a point 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 the

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

. Despite having graduated, and despite being drafted by the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

, 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 the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

, Kentucky was offered a bid into the NCAA 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, 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 The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

. His uniform number 6 was retired by the University of Kentucky.

U.S. Air Force

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 at

Andrews Air Force Base Andrews Air Force Base (Andrews AFB, AAFB) is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force (USAF). In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form ...

, won Worldwide Air Force basketball championships.

Professional career

National Basketball Association (NBA)

After his military service, Hagan and Ed Macauley were traded to the St. Louis Hawks for the draft rights to

Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played Center (basketball), center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. He was t ...

. In Game 6 of the 1957 NBA Finals on April 11, Hagan hit the game winning

Buzzer beater In timed sports, a buzzer beater is a successful shot made as the clock expires at the end of a period or at the end of the game, leaving zero seconds remaining. A buzzer sounds whenever a game clock expires, hence the name "buzzer beater." In b ...

shot to force Game 7 against the Boston Celtics, which is believed to be the first playoff buzzer-beater shot in NBA history. In 1958, the Hawks won the NBA championship, defeating the Boston Celtics 4–2 in the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

. The Hawks won four Western Conference titles during Hagan's tenure with them. Hagan was named to five consecutive NBA All-Star Games from 1958 to 1962. In ''The Breaks of the Game'',

David Halberstam David Halberstam (April 10, 1934 April 23, 2007) was an American writer, journalist, and historian, known for his work on the Vietnam War, politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, Korean War, and late ...

wrote that Hagan was the only white star on the Hawks who welcomed African American teammates like

Lenny Wilkens Leonard Randolph Wilkens (born October 28, 1937) is an American former professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been inducted three times into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, fi ...

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.

American Basketball Association (ABA)

In 1967, the Dallas Chaparrals of the newly formed ABA hired Hagan as a

. He scored 40 points in his team's first game. He also played in the first 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.

University of Kentucky

In 1972, Hagan returned to the University of Kentucky as the school's assistant

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

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 teammate C. M. Newton, the head basketball coach at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

the year before.

Legacy

Hagan was inducted into the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

in 1978. He is the first former University of Kentucky player to be so honored. In 1993, the University of Kentucky renamed its baseball field in honor of Hagan.

Personal life

Hagan married his wife, Martha, on September 4, 1954.

Career playing statistics

NBA/ABA

Regular season

Playoffs

Head coaching record

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Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hagan, Cliff 1931 births ABA All-Stars All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Kentucky Basketball player-coaches Basketball players from Kentucky Boston Celtics draft picks Dallas Chaparrals head coaches Dallas Chaparrals players Kentucky Wildcats athletic directors Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Living people Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees NBA All-Stars National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Small forwards Sportspeople from Owensboro, Kentucky St. Louis Hawks players