TheCatsDomain.Com Message Boards: Remembering Cliff Hagan.

This is topic Remembering Cliff Hagan. in forum UK / NCAA Basketball at TheCatsDomain.Com Message Boards.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://www.thecatsdomain.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=28;t=022535

Posted by CATTRACKER (Member # 55) on 04-19-2010, 10:02 PM:

Sure would have liked to see him play. People say he'd kill you going for a rebound and opposing players were be sore the next day.

I remember seeing him many times walking around the gates on the floor at Rupp Arena games. This was when he was AD. He'd be dressed to kill and walk all around Rupp as if he were a policeman--all with a 'frozen' perfect posture.

A good read on him:

Although Cliff Hagen played over 50 years ago many people still remember him as one of the great players in Kentucky history still today. Maybe it is because he compiled a 86-5 (.945) career record at Kentucky in his 3 seasons on the varsity team including a National Championship and an undefeated season. Or maybe it is because he ranks in the top 20 in career: points, rebounds, free throws made, free throw attempts, field goals made & field goal attempts. It may be because Hagan was a two-time First Team All-American at Kentucky and is the only player in school history with back-to-back 600+ point season in which he also tallied one 325+ rebound season and one 500+ rebound season. That is pretty impressive when you look at all the great scorers and rebounders in Kentucky history (Dan Issel, Kenny Walker, Bill Spivey, Cotton Nash, etc.). Hagan is also still remembered because he grew up in Owensboro, KY and stayed in state to attend Kentucky where everyone loved him for his humble attitude and the fact that he WAS a boy from down the road. Some of Hagan’s career accomplishments are:

*
All-SEC Tournament team as a sophomore at Kentucky along with winning the NCAA National Championship
*
As a junior at UK Hagan made First Team All-American, First Team All-SEC & the All-SEC Tournament team
*
As a senior at Kentucky Hagan again made First Team All-American and First Team All-SEC along with finishing the season 25-0 at UK, the only team in UK history to go through an entire season undefeated
*
Hagan is 16th on Kentucky’s all-time scoring charts with 1,475 career points
*
He ranks 3rd all-time in rebounding at Kentucky with 1,035 career rebounds
*
Hagan attempted 487 career free throws, the 10th most all-time at UK, he made 341 of them which is 11th most ever
*
Hagan attempted 1335 field goals in his career, 13th most all-time at Kentucky, and he made 567 of them, which is the 18th most ever.

Another accomplishment that I am sure Hagan is honored to have been chosen for is the fact that his jersey is retired in the rafters of Rupp Arena. His #6 jersey was the 12th jersey ever retired at Kentucky and still to this day only 37 players have had the honor of getting their jersey retired.
================

I do hope he's doing well these days. He should be about 78 now. [Smile]

Posted by boomdaddy (Member # 2644) on 04-20-2010, 09:53 AM:

I was too young to know him as a player, but didn't think much of him as an AD. I can remember him looking tipsy at ball games during halftime tv interviews. Maybe he just had poor balance, when he was older? Wasn't he the one who brought us Sutton?

Posted by Bama Cat (Member # 153) on 04-20-2010, 12:09 PM:

I'm sure this will be answered but who did Hagen play for in the NBA? Full name iof the team.

Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 04-20-2010, 12:25 PM:

Either the Indianapolis Olympians, or the Saint Louis Hawks.

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 04-20-2010, 12:30 PM:

He was drafted by the Celtics..

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 04-20-2010, 12:36 PM:

He served a couple of years in the military and when he came back he was traded to the St. Louis Hawks for the draft rights to Bill Russell.

Posted by Wildcat Bill (Member # 615) on 04-20-2010, 02:54 PM:

He played for the St. Louis Hawks and I think that he was a player/coach for the Dallas Chapparals (sp?) in the ABA also.

Posted by SCWC (Member # 2464) on 04-20-2010, 05:48 PM:

He was drafted by the Celtics like WB states but the trade was designed for Hagan to go to St Louis and for Bill Russell to go to the Celtics and the rest is history. Hagan was a great rebounder for his size and also had an unstoppable hook shot. I had the privilege of setting with he and his wife at a UK game once, quite a thrill for me. He was a very classy gentleman.

[ 04-20-2010, 05:50 PM: Message edited by: SCWC ]

Posted by ukcatfannfl (Member # 1425) on 04-20-2010, 09:09 PM:

OK Trivia - which superstar did he play with when he was with St Louis? [Smile]

Posted by ALA_KAT2 (Member # 1559) on 04-20-2010, 09:39 PM:

That would be Bob Pettit. I listened to many of the S. L. Hawks games on the radio in the early sixties . St Louis had a clear channel station that I could pick up at night on my fancy transistor radio. Wow, how technology has changed since then!

Posted by clydeh (Member # 7) on 04-21-2010, 09:48 AM:

I remember seeing Hagan on TV during the state tournament in ?47 or ?46 or ?48. I'm not sure of the year but my uncle had a tv in his service station in Middletown, KY. Could my memory be right or did I just dream this?
Clyde H.

Posted by ukcatfannfl (Member # 1425) on 04-21-2010, 11:20 AM:

ALA Kat - good job! Petit was one of my favorite playes in those days!

Posted by Atlanta Cat Fan (Member # 1746) on 04-21-2010, 03:42 PM:

Pettit and Hagan won the Hawks their only championship as well - over Russell's Celtics. Both guys were NBA Hall of Famers in addition to outstanding college players.

Posted by CATTRACKER (Member # 55) on 04-21-2010, 04:10 PM:

There seems to be no end to Hagan's CHAMPIONSHIPS.
From wiki---he apparently won TWO 'World Wide Air Force Basketball Championships':

'Unlike Ramsey, however, Hagan served in the military for two years after being drafted (Ramsey had served in the military for one year after his rookie season). In both of his years in the military (1954 and 1955), Hagan, stationed at Andrews Air Force Base, won Worldwide Air Force basketball championships.'

Posted by Jarcat (Member # 95) on 04-21-2010, 04:30 PM:

He owned the best steak house ever called "Cliff Hagan's Ribeye".

When it first opened they had no menu. You told them how big a steak you wanted and how you wanted it cooked. Then you went to the best salad bar I've ever experienced. When the steaks came out, they were on a sizzling griddle with a humongous baked potato, oozing butter, and a loaf of homemade bread that was to die for.

I believe Cattracker told me there was a Cliff Hagan's in Hazard still operating.

Posted by CATTRACKER (Member # 55) on 04-21-2010, 05:07 PM:

There is one still in Hazard, John. Our family goes once a year and we always go there for a fine dinner. The 'atmosphere' is great, too. [Wink]

These huge photos that look almost like oil paintings of former UK teams grace the walls...and the food is delicious.