Cliff Hagan
Overview
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
former professional basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player. A 6-4 forward who excelled with the hook shot
Hook shot
A hook shot, in basketball, is a play in which the offensive player, usually turned perpendicular to the basket, gently throws the ball with a sweeping motion of his arm in an upward arc with a follow-through which ends over his head. Unlike the jump shot, it is shot with only one hand; the other...
, Hagan, nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
d "Li'l Abner," played his entire 10-year NBA career (1956–1966) with the St. Louis Hawks
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are part of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association .-The first years:...
. He was also a player-coach
Player-coach
A player-coach, in sports, is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. The term can be used to refer to both players who serve as head coaches, or as assistant coaches....
for the Dallas Chaparrals
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....
in the first two-plus years of the American Basketball Association
American Basketball Association
The American Basketball Association was a professional basketball league founded in 1967. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976.-League history:...
's existence (1967–1970).
Hagan played college basketball at the University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
under legendary coach Adolph Rupp
Adolph Rupp
Adolph Frederick Rupp was one of the most successful coaches in the history of American college basketball. Rupp is fourth in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching...
. As a sophomore in 1951 he helped Kentucky win the NCAA Championship with a 68-58 victory over Kansas State
Kansas State University
Kansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States...
.
In the fall of 1952, a point shaving
Point shaving
In organized sports, point shaving is a type of match fixing where the perpetrators try to prevent a team from covering a published point spread. Unlike other forms of match fixing, sports betting invariably motivates point shaving. A point shaving scheme generally involves a sports gambler and one...
scandal involving three Kentucky players (one of whom was a teammate of Hagan on Kentucky’s 1951 NCAA champions) over a four-year period forced Kentucky to forfeit its upcoming season, the senior year of Hagan, Frank Ramsey
Frank Ramsey (basketball)
Frank Vernon Ramsey, Jr. is a former professional basketball player and coach. A 6-3 guard, he played his entire nine-year NBA career with the Boston Celtics and played a major role in the early part of their dynasty, winning seven championships...
and Lou Tsioropoulos
Lou Tsioropoulos
Louis "Lou" C. Tsioropoulos is a retired Greek-American professional basketball player who played for the NBA's Boston Celtics for three seasons from 1956-1959....
.
