What led Nique Clifford to Sacramento Kings NBA draft pick? These stories explain his path

The adjectives used and stories shared tell the tale of Nique Clifford's journey to the NBA draft green room.

He came to Colorado State full of belief in what he could become as a player but battling bruised confidence after three rocky years at the University of Colorado.

Now? Two years after starting his time as a Ram, Clifford is expected to be selected in the first round of the 2025 NBA draft on June 25.

The story has been told frequently. Clifford was recruited by CSU out of Vanguard High School in Colorado Springs but ultimately chose the Buffs. He played three years in Boulder, with some success but was mostly misused in his role.

Mar 21, 2025; Seattle, WA, USA; Colorado State Rams guard Nique Clifford (10) celebrates after defeating Memphis Tigers at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

At CSU? Phenomenal. He helped the Rams make the 2024 NCAA Tournament, starred in a First Four win over Virginia and tested the draft waters. He chose, somewhat surprisingly, to return to CSU. And he became a superstar in 2024-25.

Clifford was the Mountain West tournament MVP as the Rams rampaged into the postseason, won an NCAA Tournament first round game against Memphis and were seconds away from a Sweet 16 with a near-upset of Maryland.

Now Clifford has a chance to be a lottery pick.

To tell about his growth, the Coloradoan spoke to several people close to him in his two years as a Ram. These are their stories of Clifford’s growth from untapped potential to stardom.

Isaiah Stevens, former Colorado State point guard

Stevens was a young Ram when CSU tried to land Clifford out of high school.

“When he took his official visit, he spent a lot of time with me, David (Roddy), Dischon (Thomas), John (Tonje). He came to our dorm, we played video games, pretty much the whole night. It’s kind of a crazy experience to look back on. He was super reserved, not very outspoken but we were playing 2K and he started to come out of his shell the more we spent time around each other. I thought we had him, honestly.”

Ken DeWeese, CSU assistant coach

DeWeese is now a CSU assistant coach, but he was an assistant at Northern Colorado when Clifford was in high school. DeWeese was then an assistant at Wyoming when the Cowboys faced CU and Clifford in preseason scrimmages earlier in his college career. DeWeese coached against Clifford and the Rams while at Wyoming in the 2023-24 season and then joined the Rams for Clifford’s final season in 2024-25.

“You could see the glimpses. When we were at UNC, that was prior to his quote-unquote ‘blowup’ and had him up to campus with his mom and dad. I think we were one of his first couple of offers there and then it was like two weekends later at an AAU tournament he gets 25 on a main court or something and it’s over (for UNC).”

Ali Farokhmanesh, CSU men’s basketball coach

Farokhmanesh was a CSU assistant when recruiting Clifford out of high school. Then when Clifford entered the portal to leave CU, Farokhmanesh was the first call Clifford received to try to bring him to CSU again. Clifford joined, but the first summer was a struggle at times as Clifford and CSU rebuilt his game.

“We didn’t think he was going to start that summer. We had Josiah (Strong), Jalen Lake and Nique and, honestly, we debated all the time because only two of the three could start. There was days it was Josiah and Jalen or Nique and Jalen or Josiah and Nique.”

Niko Medved, former CSU men’s basketball coach

Medved was CSU’s coach for Clifford’s years as a Ram. He has since taken the job at Minnesota, but Medved will join Farokhmanesh and Clifford’s family and friends in the green room for the NBA draft.

“I remember when he came he was a player — I don’t want to use the word broken — but he was really down. He was down emotionally, his confidence was not very high in himself. You could tell he was just questioning a lot in himself and his game but what was interesting, too, was I remember he came to my office right away when he got there and we talked and he told me, he looked at me and he said his goal was to go to the NBA after his first year at Colorado State. I’m like ‘OK.’ I didn’t tell him, but I’ll be honest, I didn’t believe him. I’m like ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’ from where he was at, but he’s always had this belief that he belongs at that level.”

Ali Farokhmanesh

“All the superstars we’ve had have that ignorant confidence in themselves where it’s like you really shouldn’t have this confidence but you do. He has that. But then he also has the humility to understand, ‘I love where I’m at. I am where my feet are, but I know I can take that next step even though now I’m a first-round draft pick.’ I think that’s what made him so great here. Even here, coming back (after testing the draft waters in 2024). I think it’s hard to go through that NBA process, come back to college and really dive into the things you’ve got to get better at and he did it. That’s why I know when he takes that next step to the NBA, he’s going to have that same mindset of this is not an arrival point, it’s a launching point.”

Isaiah Stevens

Despite some of Clifford’s struggles in that first summer, Stevens knew something special was possible.

“It started in pickup, but more so me, him and Jo Strong used to play one-on-one and you just start to figure out the different layers to his game. One-on-one and five-on-five is totally different, right? As he was trying to get comfortable in the five-on-five setting, we would play ones in the summer and you start to see different aspects to his game that nobody else on the floor can necessarily do at his size, with his versatility. It was pretty quick, man, I started to realize what he had and he can do some things that are pretty special, I’m not going to lie.”

Ken DeWeese

DeWeese knew Clifford was leveling up as his flash plays became more the norm than the exception.

“To me, obviously I wasn’t (at CSU) his first year, but for me it was seeing him do the things I saw him do every now and then leading up consistently every day. It might not have been every possession, but I remember him in high school he did that once in four games in an AAU tournament and now he’s doing it once every possession. The consistency and the elevation of his impact on the game and each possession was just so consistent and that’s why I knew we were dealing with a different Nique this year.”

Ali Farokhmanesh

Farokhmanesh on what makes Clifford special on the court:

“The ability to be in the passing lanes, make deflections, make plays like that. When he would drive and go dunk on the rim. He would be closing out to somebody and you think they have a wide-open 3 and all of a sudden he gets a deflection on that 3. It was those moments that it was like he’s just different. There’s not a lot of guys that can do the things he can do.”

Rashaan Mbemba, CSU’s starting center

“I think Nique Clifford is a unique basketball player. Just the way he can do pretty much everything. He can be a huge contributor on offense and defense. Now matter what you throw at him, play the point or guard the big, he didn’t shy away from no challenge. If he wasn’t good enough yet, he was in the gym working on it to make sure he was ready when the time came to do it.”

Ken DeWeese

DeWeese says Clifford's off-court intangibles set him apart. DeWeese highlighted how Clifford welcomed him to CSU with open arms despite DeWeese joining from rival Wyoming.

“Maybe the best human you see that happen to that I’ve been around. How he approaches everybody in the program, how he approaches everybody in the community, fans, just people in general. His gratitude towards anyone, I thought was really special. That’s the big thing I try to relate to a lot of the scouts that have called is his floor is so high because he’s a good person. Your worst case is, if he’s level with somebody else in your organization, he’s going to be elevated over that person because of what kind of person he is.”

Niko Medved

“He is live it guy when it comes to basketball. He can’t get enough of it. He’s like a sponge. Loves to be in the gym. Never missed a day of practice, is always out there competing every day. He absolutely just lives it. And then he’s just an elite human being. He’s an incredible teammate, incredible person to be around. He just makes everybody feel good. Those two things, while you might say that about a lot of people, he’s just at a whole other level. He’s just so unique that way."

Isaiah Stevens

Stevens says a group of former Rams including himself, Strong and Joel Scott tried to coordinate to be in Brooklyn for the draft to support Clifford. The logistics didn’t pan out, but he’ll be watching closely.

“It will be so surreal because of our relationship. It will be really similar to me and David (Roddy). Just because when we were on campus together, we spent so much time together. I spent so much time with David, we hung out every day when I was at CSU. With Nique, we hung out every day. Those relationships got sped up in a short amount of time. We still talk to this day. We play a video game together to keep in touch. We check in on each other games. He’s watching G League games and NBA games to see if I’m getting in and getting a chance and I’m obviously watching (CSU) games. That’s my brother, for real.”

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: What led Nique Clifford to Sacramento Kings NBA draft pick? These stories explain his path