Nique Clifford is leaving Colorado, but he isn’t leaving his home state.
On Sunday, the former CU Buffs guard announced on social media he has committed to continuing his basketball career at Colorado State. In Fort Collins, Clifford will be reunited with fellow Colorado Springs native and former New Mexico guard Javonte Johnson, a former club teammate of Clifford’s who also is transferring to the Rams.
CSU this week also picked up a commitment from another Colorado Springs area native in Joel Scott, the younger brother of former CU standout Josh Scott who was a Division II star at Black Hills State.
Clifford played in 82 games with 50 starts over three seasons at CU. After playing sparingly as a true freshman in 2020-21, Clifford became a full rotation player in 2021-22 and took over a starting role midway through the year after a season-ending foot injury suffered by former CU guard Elijah Parquet.
Clifford spent most of his sophomore season as the Buffs’ second-leading rebounder, averaging 6.7 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting .453 overall and .400 (24-for-60) from 3-point range.
Those numbers dropped appreciably as Clifford struggled through the 2022-23 season. Despite starting 33 of CU’s 35 games, Clifford averaged 5.9 points and just 3.9 rebounds. He shot .374 overall and just .276 (21-for-76) on 3-pointers. Clifford also struggled at the free throw line, posting a .532 mark (25-for-47).
In perhaps a microcosm of his final season at CU, Clifford posted his first career double-double in the regular season finale in a win against Utah, finishing with 14 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. However, in the Buffs’ two games in the Pac-12 tournament and the two games in the NIT, Clifford recorded just seven points total while going 4-for-18 overall and 1-for-7 on 3-pointers.
Clifford, who played at Class 3A Vanguard, originally chose CU over CSU, Wyoming and Stanford. With the extra season of eligibility granted by the NCAA for the 2020-21 COVID season, he still has two years of eligibility remaining.
