Cliff Hagan, Kentucky Legend and Hall of Famer, Dies at 94

Cliff Hagan, one of the most important figures in the history of Kentucky athletics, has died. UK Athletics announced that Hagan died Thursday, Oct. 15, at the age of 94. He was a national champion at Kentucky, a Naismith Hall of Famer, an NBA champion and, for 13 years, the school's athletics director.

Few people have touched the program in as many roles. "Few people have impacted Kentucky Athletics in as many ways as Cliff Hagan," UK Athletics Director J Batt said in the university's announcement.

Kentucky Wildcats' tribute post on Facebook

From Owensboro to Lexington

Hagan grew up in Owensboro. According to UK Athletics, he scored a then-record 41 points in the state championship game while leading Owensboro High School to the state title. He arrived at Kentucky in the fall of 1949 and played on the freshman team.

The 1951 national championship

In his first varsity season, Hagan was a key part of Adolph Rupp's 1951 team that won the national championship. The next year he was a consensus first-team All-American and Kentucky's leading scorer, and the Wildcats reached the NCAA East Regional final.

After the NCAA suspension that kept Kentucky off the court for the 1952-53 season, Hagan returned for 1953-54 on one of the most famous teams in school history. Kentucky went 25-0 and finished No. 1, and Hagan was a first-team All-American again, averaging 21.6 points and 16.5 rebounds. That team never played for a title. Hagan, Frank Ramsey and Lou Tsioropoulos had already graduated, NCAA rules of the day barred graduate students from the tournament, and Kentucky turned down its bid rather than play without them, UK Athletics noted.

In three varsity seasons, Kentucky went 86-5 and won three SEC regular-season titles. Hagan scored 1,475 points in just 77 games and still ranks 17th on UK's career scoring list. He held the school record of 13.4 rebounds per game for decades, until Oscar Tshiebwe passed it.

The hook shot

Hagan stood 6-foot-4, not big for a frontcourt player, and he made up for it with skill. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame describes him as having "one of basketball's most devastating hook shots," along with quickness and strength. A hook shot that could not be blocked let a forward his size score over bigger defenders, and it became his signature in college and in the pros.

Service and the NBA years

Before turning pro, Hagan served two years in the U.S. Air Force, from 1954 to 1956, according to UK Athletics. His base team at Andrews Air Force Base won two worldwide Air Force championships.

His path to the NBA came through one of the most famous trades in league history. The Hall of Fame notes that the Boston Celtics drafted Hagan and then traded him, with fellow Hall of Famer Ed Macauley, to the St. Louis Hawks for the draft rights to Bill Russell. In 1958, it was Hagan's Hawks who beat the Celtics in the NBA Finals.

Hagan played all 10 of his NBA seasons in St. Louis. He averaged 18 points per game, made five All-Star teams and was named second-team All-NBA twice, according to UK Athletics and NBA.com. The Hall of Fame notes that he averaged 20.4 points and 8.3 rebounds in the playoffs and once scored 26 points in a single quarter against the New York Knicks in 1958. In its statement, the NBA said Hagan "played a key role in St. Louis' 1958 NBA championship." After retiring in 1966, he returned in 1967-68 as player-coach of the Dallas Chaparrals in the new American Basketball Association and was an all-star in the league's first season.

Athletics director, 1975-88

Hagan returned to Kentucky as athletics director in July 1975 and served until 1988. In those years Kentucky won NCAA titles in men's basketball (1978) and women's cross country (1988), plus SEC championships in several sports, including football, women's basketball, volleyball and wrestling, according to UK Athletics.

His most lasting work as AD may have been off the field. UK says he hired the school's first athletics academic counselor, and in 1981 he established the Center for Academic and Tutorial Services (CATS), the first facility in the nation dedicated solely to the academic development of student-athletes. He also oversaw new facilities, including the Nutter Football Training Facility and the Lancaster Aquatics Center. His tenure ended in a difficult resignation in late 1988, and the Lexington Herald-Leader recalled that university president David Roselle said then that Hagan had always "conducted himself with honesty and integrity."

A legacy in the rafters

Hagan was inducted into the UK Athletics Hall of Fame in 1975, and his jersey hangs in the rafters of Rupp Arena. In 1978 he became the first former Kentucky player inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. UK's baseball stadium was named Cliff Hagan Stadium in 1993, and he was part of the inaugural class of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

His career is a reminder of how much one person can give to a program as a player, a leader and a builder. Hagan and his wife, Martha, also from Owensboro, had four children: Lisa, Laurie, Amy and Kip. Big Blue Times extends its condolences to the Hagan family and to everyone who knew him.

Big Blue Times is an independent fan site and is not affiliated with the University of Kentucky.

Sources: UK Athletics: Cliff Hagan, Legend of University of Kentucky Athletics, Passes Away, Lexington Herald-Leader, NBA.com, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Kentucky Wildcats on Facebook