Nique Clifford withdraws from NBA Draft, will return to CSU

Run it back.

After testing the NBA Draft waters this spring, Nique Clifford has elected to return to Colorado State and use his final year of eligibility.

The 6-foot-5, 200-pound forward participated in the NBA Combine and worked out for a handful of teams, including Denver and Atlanta. Ultimately, though, he has decided come back to CSU and further improve his pro stock for the future according to people inside the program.

After playing three years at the University of Colorado, Clifford transferred to CSU for the 2023-24 season and immediately thrived in Niko Medved’s system. 

Playing a career-high 30.3 minutes per game, the 6-foot-5 forward scored more in his senior season with the Rams (438 points) than he did in his sophomore and junior years combined with the Buffs (426 points). And what’s particularly significant about the increased scoring output is that he did it efficiently.

During CSU’s historic run which featured multiple wins over high-major opponents, the highest ranking in school history and the first NCAA Tournament win in a decade, Clifford had the best scoring average of his career at 16 points per game while also shooting a career-high 52 percent from the floor. He saw nearly a 10 percent jump from beyond the arc as well (38 percent). 

As big as Clifford’s offense was for CSU, and as exciting as his highlight dunks were, his biggest impact came on the defensive side. Arguably one of the best perimeter defenders in the Mountain West, he also led the league in defensive rebounding and tied Joel Scott for the most blocks on the team. 

While there are quite a few games that we could look back on to illustrate the type of impact Clifford made for the Green & Gold this past season, the two most important ones were probably the Mountain West Tournament win over Nevada and the NCAA Tournament win over Virginia. Clifford recorded a double-double in each crucial victory, finishing with a total of 31 points, 20 rebounds, 11 assists and 4 blocks between them. 

With Clifford back in the mix, the Rams should be expected to contend for an at-large bid once again. He’ll be the only returning starter but Jalen Lake, Rashaan Mbemba and Kyan Evans are all back. The staff added a lot of intriguing talent via the transfer portal and high school ranks, too.

As far as Clifford’s status individually goes, the athletic wing will have a chance to potentially play his way into the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft depending on how his season goes. He should be a preseason all-conference pick, and in a lot of ways, he’ll be considered the face of the team.

Clifford is a player with a ton of upside for the next level. He can jump through the gym, he’s already an NBA caliber defender, and he can score at all three levels. If he refines his game a little bit and has another solid season in Fort Collins, I imagine he will be on the radar of quite a few teams next spring.