Nique Clifford always believed this night would come.
He would be an NBA player. He was certain of it.
Even when playing at a relatively small high school in Colorado with Vanguard in Class 3A. Even when he was trudging through three up-and-down years at the University of Colorado.
Clifford never lost belief, even as he had to rebuild his confidence and his game.
It led him to the night of June 25, when he took the stage at the 2025 NBA draft at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
He shook hands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver as a first-round pick. The Colorado State star was selected with the No. 24 overall pick by the Sacramento Kings. The Kings moved into the No. 24 slot via a trade with the champion Oklahoma City Thunder, according to multiple national reports.
“I’ve always felt like I’m an NBA player. Even when I struggled with confidence, I always believed I’m supposed to be there one day,” Clifford told the Coloradoan in March.
Now he’s there. Clifford is an NBA player.
“I’ve got to hold it together,” an emotional Clifford said in an interview on ABC after being picked. “It’s all the emotions coming together, I’m not usually a super emotional person but I worked my whole life to get here. It’s been a dream of mine. Just to get to celebrate and enjoy this moment with all my people is a true blessing.”
Clifford received an invite to the NBA draft green room and was joined by his family, current CSU men’s basketball coach Ali Farokhmanesh and former CSU coach Niko Medved, among others.
“Sacramento is going to get a guy that can maybe help immediately,” former Golden State general manager Bob Myers said on the ABC broadcast of the draft.
Nique Clifford’s stats
The 6-foot-6 wing averaged 18.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game for Colorado State in the 2024-25 season. Clifford shot 50% from the field, 38% from 3-point range and 78% from the free throw line.
Over two seasons at CSU, Clifford started 72 games and averaged 15.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
Clifford averaged 25 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists in three games as CSU won the 2025 Mountain West tournament and he was named MVP.
Clifford spent his first three seasons in college at the University of Colorado, where he played 82 games (50 starts) and averaged 5.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.
He left Colorado after his junior year and chose the Rams over Loyola-Chicago. He tested the NBA draft waters after the 2023-24 season but opted to return and used his fifth year to go from a fringe draft prospect to a first-round lock.
Nique Clifford and Colorado State’s NBA draft history
Clifford is just the fourth player in Colorado State history to be picked in the first round of an NBA draft.
The others are:
David Roddy (2022, No. 23 overall)Jason Smith (2007, No. 20 overall)Bill Green (1963, No. 8 overall)
Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on X and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.