Cliff Meely (July 10, 1947 – May 29, 2013) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who played five seasons in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). He played one year at

Northeastern Junior College Northeastern Junior College (NJC) is a public community college in Sterling, Colorado. It is a member college of the Colorado Community College System. In 2021 Colorado legislators and college administrators considered changing the college nam ...

Sterling, Colorado Sterling is a home rule municipality and the county seat and most populous municipality of Logan County, Colorado, United States. Sterling is the principal city of the Sterling, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city population was 13,753 a ...

, then at the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado syst ...

for three years, from 1968 to 1971. He remains the

Colorado Buffaloes The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado. The university sponsors 17 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden Buffalo ...

' career leader in points per game and rebounds per game. Meely was a Big Eight all-conference performer all three years at Colorado, and was a first-team All American as a senior. He is one of only three Colorado basketball player to have his number retired. He was drafted by the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

in the 1971 NBA draft. He played for the Rockets for five years, before being traded to the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

in his last NBA season. He went on to play two years in Europe before recurring back spasms forced his retirement. His best season statistically was his rookie season, when he averaged 9.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per games. Meely died at a Boulder, Colorado hospital in 2013 of a blood infection. He was 65.Former Colorado basketball star Cliff Meely dies of blood infection at age 65
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References

External links

Profile
– TheDraftReview.com

– Basketball-Reference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Meely, Cliff 1947 births 2013 deaths African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Basketball players from Mississippi Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball players FC Mulhouse Basket players Houston Rockets players Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Los Angeles Lakers players Nuova AMG Sebastiani Basket Rieti players People from Rosedale, Mississippi Power forwards (basketball) San Diego Rockets draft picks 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people Infectious disease deaths in Colorado Deaths from blood disease