Raising His Performance to Match the Stakes
Clifford taking flight among elevated expectations
Mike Brohard
The expected has occurred.
Really good player, entering his second year with a program, has improved his numbers. Bigger role. Center stage. Nique Clifford has seized the day for Colorado State.
Finding his inner fuel is never a problem.
“That’s the best thing. I want to be 10-0, but 8-2 is still really good,” Clifford said of the Rams’ record in Mountain West play. “People were doubting us. That’s something I have in my locker, the preseason poll. That’s motivation for me. That’s motivation for us. I still think people still don’t have the respect for us I think we’ve earned.
“It’s right on the side, in the front. I see it every day. You have to have motivating factors. I feel like we’re better than seventh, so we want to keep proving that to people.”
The senior’s stat line is impressive on the surface. It’s what lies underneath which really catches the attention of Niko Medved, his coach. His teammates as well. There are extenuating circumstances one must take into consideration, and once you do, you land on the wow factor.
“I think in general every step you take on the ladder of improving is that much harder; the margins are that much smaller,” Medved said. “In his case, it’s the improvement of the skills, but it’s the realization I’m the target of every other opponent. I have to take more on as far as playmaking, defense, rebounding. It’s learning to handle that. It’s also learning to handle the ups and downs when things don’t go your way, and can you respond quickly. Not just into the next game, but if you have a poor half, respond in the next. Those things have been a journey, but it’s been really impressive the way he’s handled that.”
Having gone through the workouts leading up to the 2024 NBA Draft, hours before the deadline, Clifford decided to return to Colorado State. In the offseason, he had a checklist of improvements for himself, many of them physical in nature.
He also understood nothing was going to be the same. He was now Priority No. 1 when opposing Mountain West teams came calling. The guy to stop. At least don’t allow him to go nuts.
In the process of getting better, he had to think of the situations he would be in the coming year, not the ones he’d faced the year prior. The double teams which were coming. The bigger bodies attempting to muscle him out of position. The trick defenses.
Things he hadn’t seen since his high school days at the Vanguard School in Colorado Springs. When he was doubled in high school, none of them were 250-pound men.
Times change. So, too, did his approach.
“I did a lot of mediation. Even when I was in the gym by myself, I was testing myself mentally,” Clifford said. “I would make myself make 10 in a row before I left the gym. Even when I got frustrated, I’d do things to challenge myself mentally. I think that helped build me up to withstand the highs and lows of the season. I had a stretch where I wasn’t playing well, but I think my training helped me respond to that and get better.
“I knew my expectations for the season and what I wanted it to look like. The biggest thing for me was putting myself in those situations. When you’re in the gym by yourself working on last-second shots or working on being double teamed, it’s what reads to make. It’s all of that combined. That’s what I really took into consideration this offseason when I worked.”
He’s one of the most unselfish guys I’ve played with. It just goes back to the work he put in. He draws so much attention at the top of the scout offensively. Being able to see his numbers rise is cool.Jalen Lake
Clifford, a preseason All-Mountain West pick, has improved his scoring by more than five points per game. He’s pulling down 2.0 more rebounds per contest and to the surprise of none of his teammates, all the defensive attention has led to him averaging 1.2 more assists per night.
The work was not all about him. It was about what he could do for the Rams. Want to impress a teammate? Put in the work. It’ll say more than any tomahawk dunk soaring down the lane.
“I think it’s super impressive. That just defines who he is, the person he is and the work he’s put in,” Jalen Lake said. “He’s such a great person off the court. I’m not surprised at all. He’s put in the work, and he’s been such a great leader for our team.
“He’s one of the most unselfish guys I’ve played with. It just goes back to the work he put in. He draws so much attention at the top of the scout offensively. Being able to see his numbers rise is cool.”
If Medved needs to get on Clifford at practice, he knows he can. If he needs to praise him, he does. As a coach, he knows it won’t change the person, or his outlook. Clifford is steady in the work and growing in confidence in his role.
Not everyone can be the guy. Some possess the physical ability, but if a full understanding of the calling isn’t there, it will be lost. It requires an ego to do the job. It requires relinquishing it, as well.
“For me, I have pride, and I feel like I want the last shot, I can take the last shot, but if my teammate is wide open, I make the right play for him,” Clifford said. “I think that’s just the trust we build as a team, trusting that guy is going to make the shot. He’ll believe in me if I take it. There is a learning curve, but that’s the cool part of being on a team.
“It's a cool role to be in. It has been an adjustment for me. I have to be on my Ps and Qs every single day, be able to control my emotions really well, channel everything in if I’m feeling a certain type of way. I have to be a calming factor for our team and boost confidence in others. It’s a tough role to be in. Once you’re in it, you kind of see what Isaiah (Stevens) was going through, and you earn more respect for those guys and how they were able to do it. They came in whether they were tired, hurting or mad about something, and put the focus on the team.”
Medved lauds Clifford’s improvement from every conceivable angle. The Rams needed improvement from a guy moving into the leadership role. He’s answered the call of beyond dependable, playing 30-plus minutes in 19 of 21 games this season. His scoring improvement, crucial. The rebounding, vital. The playmaking, sensational.
He was the first player in the country to reach 300 points, 200 rebounds and 80 assists this season (he sits at 380, 212 and 92), complete with nine double-doubles. A do-it-all definition.
More impressive to Medved was the way Clifford has handled the expectations and unknowns.
“I see it in his mentality every day in the way he works. Listen, he’s had to make a lot of plays for us in games that have gotten us over the hump,” Medved said. “A lot of times you’ll have the ball, not because you have to take the shot, it’s making the right play. Sometimes it’s taking the shot, but sometimes it’s making the right pass. He’s handled that well.
“I think that’s something he’s always had, even since high school, and believed about himself that he can make plays for others and see the floor really well. He’s had the opportunity to do more of that here. He did some last year, but with Isaiah being gone, he has more opportunities than ever and that’s really shown.”
What Lake sees is a player always having a good day on the surface. Comes in with a smile and leaves the same way. A guy who puts in his work and that of the team. To make himself better, to make the team better. Lake knows the pressure is there, he just doesn’t see Clifford carrying any.
At the end of every day, Clifford checks in with himself. He rewinds the day, how he reacted in moments, how he performed and seeks guidance.
“I do it a lot. I’m big on prayer. I’m big on building a relationship with God,” he said. “I channel a lot my days into that. I’m able to use that to be at peace, be confident in knowing I gave everything I had today and to be grateful for another day and then come out and be a leader for my team, to be in the position I’m in. You have your good and bad days. My mindset is learn from everything I’m doing, grow from it, and if I had a bad day, come in the next day and be better.”
If Clifford ever needs a reminder of his why, there it hangs, right in his locker.
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