Clyde Edward Austin (born November 1, 1957) is an American former

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. Nicknamed "Clyde the Glide", he emerged as a prospect while playing for Maggie L. Walker High School in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, where he is considered one of the area's greatest high school basketball players. Austin played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

NC State Wolfpack The NC State Wolfpack is the nickname of the athletic teams representing North Carolina State University. The Wolfpack competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subd ...

and was an honorable mention

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

during his sophomore season. He was selected by the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

as the 44th overall pick in the

1980 NBA draft The 1980 NBA draft was the 34th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 10, 1980, at the Sheraton Centre Hotel & Towers, before the 1980–81 season. In this draft, 23 NBA teams took turns selectin ...

but never played in the

National Basketball Association 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 ...

(NBA). Austin played for the Philadelphia Kings of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...

for 13 games in 1980. He then joined the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters is an American Exhibition game, exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, entertainment, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 ...

for eight years. After his retirement from playing, Austin became a pastor and founded the

Raleigh Cougars The Raleigh Cougars was a United States Basketball League team based in Raleigh, North Carolina from 1997 to 1999. The team included many well known players from local colleges. The team played its home games at Dorton Arena. The Cougars were ...

of the

United States Basketball League The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

(USBL) in 1997. The team was disestablished mid-season in 1999 following his unexplained absence from the team. In 2004, Austin was sentenced to 17 years in prison for running a national

pyramid scheme A pyramid scheme is a business model which, rather than earning money (or providing Return on investment, returns on investments) by sale of legitimate product (business), products to an end consumer, mainly earns money by recruiting new members ...

in which he stole $16 million from his investors between 1996 and 2000. He swindled the money while serving as a pastor and convinced his victims, including seminar attendees, to invest their money in bonds, overseas trading, real estate and the marketing of products including herbs and weight-loss aids. Austin received an early release from prison and was working at the

University of Nevada-Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It ...

as of 2017.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1976–77 , style="text-align:left;",

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

, 28 , , – , , – , , .485 , , – , , .738 , , 2.5 , , 5.0 , , 1.9 , , .5 , , 12.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1977–78 , style="text-align:left;",

, 29 , , – , , – , , .457 , , – , , .664 , , 3.5 , , 4.2 , , 1.4 , , .4 , , 12.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1978–79 , style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , – , , – , , .488 , , – , , .699 , , 3.2 , , 4.0 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , 14.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1979–80 , style="text-align:left;",

, 28 , , – , , – , , .511 , , – , , .700 , , 2.6 , , 3.3 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 8.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 115 , , – , , – , , .483 , , – , , .696 , , 3.0 , , 4.1 , , 1.4 , , .3 , , 12.0

References

External links

College statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Clyde 1957 births Living people 20th-century American criminals American male criminals American men's basketball players American people convicted of fraud American sportspeople convicted of crimes Harlem Globetrotters players NC State Wolfpack men's basketball players Philadelphia 76ers draft picks Point guards Pyramid and Ponzi schemes Basketball players from Raleigh, North Carolina 20th-century American sportsmen