As a film nerd with a 37-inch vertical, Nique Clifford only borrows from the best. Kobe Bryant. SGA. Josh Hart. Jalen Williams. Derrick White.
So, so, so, sooooo much Derrick White.
“I’ve watched highlights on him and just tried to study it a little bit, of just how solid he is defensively,” Clifford, the gifted and genial former CSU Rams wing, told me by phone earlier this week.
“He’s not somebody that’s gambling. He just guards really well and is super disciplined. So that’s something I’ve tried to watch and pick up from his game. And then getting to go to pick-up (games) and play with him, you just see how high-level a shot-maker he is. So that was kind of one of the first people, one of the first pro dudes that I was able to be around.”
And to measure himself against. On Wednesday, Clifford’s expected to officially join White, the ex-CU and Legend High great, in the NBA ranks. Projections say the 6-foot-6 Clifford will become just the ninth former Colorado boys high school basketball player in the last 35 years to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. And only the fourth since 2010, following Dalton Knecht (2024), Reggie Jackson (2011) and White (2017).
“(That) motivational story that he has, that just pushes you to want to be better,” Clifford said of White. “Because my path wasn’t smooth sailing either. And so just to see a guy that went through what he went through and to get where he’s at now, it definitely is inspiration and more motivation.”
At 23 years old, with 154 college games and six NCAA Tournament appearances at CU (two) and CSU (four) under his belt, Clifford might be the Class of ’25 rookie most ready, mentally and physically, to plug and play, to use right out of the box.
The only mysteries are where — and how much. ESPN.com on Monday pegged him going at New Orleans with pick No. 23. The Ringer slotted him at No. 17 to Minnesota. USA Today projected him in Utah at pick No. 21, as did Yahoo Sports. As of Monday, Clifford had visited 15 teams for in-person interviews and workouts.
“If I’m on a higher-level team, like the Thunder, a playoff-contention team, I probably would be more of a stand-in-the-corner, catch-and-shoot (guy),” Clifford mused. “Be a defender, rebounder, and just having more simplicity to my game, just because they’ve got their stars.
“Maybe with a team that’s still growing, you might get more opportunity to be a playmaker or have the ball a little more. I’m not saying you’re going to — you’ll probably still be in the same role, but you might have a little more freedom. It ultimately comes down to what the team needs based on personnel, and then just the opportunity they give you based on what you get to showcase to them once training camp comes and what they see from you in Summer League, (and) how they want to implement you within their system.
“Yeah, I don’t have a clue what I’m going to be at the next level. Or where I’m going to be, either.”
But if you ask it, he’ll try it. The eye test says Clifford’s cut from a prototype 3-and-D mold, given a 6-8 reach and, as a collegian, having guarded positions 1-4 on the floor like the guy in the other jersey just keyed his car.
“It’s a huge thing,” Clifford noted. “If you can make that three, it just spaces the floor so much more, especially in the NBA. It allows the star players to have more space to go 1-on-1 and do certain things. It’s been an essential part of my training and pre-draft process of just trying to become more consistent as a three-point shooter — especially with the line moving back even farther now, I’ve even had to adjust.”
Clifford’s 3-point shot was a pet project of Ali Farokhmanesh, then a Rams assistant and now the men’s basketball coach at CSU. Farokhmanesh took everything from Nique’s feet to his elbows to his release point, pulled it apart as if it were a LEGO set and put everything back together again, brick by brick.
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The pair even hooked up a pregame tailgate just before the CU-CSU football game in FoCo last September to catch up and swap notes.
“And he was just saying kind of how proud he was of the growth and development and the spot I’m in,” Clifford recalled, “and just definitely saying that I’m ready for the next level.
“And it was just cool to hear from a guy that caliber, somebody from the same place I’m from. Because I’ve got a lot of respect and love for his game as well.”
Talent borrows. Genius steals.
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