Cliff Hagan dies at 94: a champion at Kentucky and St. Louis, then a builder back home

Cliff Hagan, the Hall of Fame forward who won championships at Kentucky and with the St. Louis Hawks, died Thursday, October 15, at 94. Kentucky's October 16 announcement and the NBA's remembrance confirm his death. The Basketball Hall of Fame also records October 15 as the date. Neither announcement states a cause of death.

A career that crossed basketball's old boundaries

Hagan's Hall biography traces a route through two professional leagues and a pivotal trade. Boston drafted him, then sent him and Ed Macauley to St. Louis for the rights to Bill Russell. Hagan became a five-time NBA All-Star and twice made the All-NBA second team. The Hawks won the 1958 championship. His Hall record lists ten NBA seasons and a 1978 enshrinement.

That NBA record should not erase the separate ABA chapter. After St. Louis, Hagan became player-coach of the Dallas Chaparrals. Nor should a professional title obscure the earlier college one: he played on Kentucky's 1951 national championship team. The Hall emphasizes his hook shot and his postseason production, listing career NBA playoff averages of 20.4 points and 8.3 rebounds. Those are playoff figures, not regular-season averages.

The return to Kentucky

His university connection extended well beyond an honored former player. Kentucky says Hagan served as athletics director from July 1975 through 1988. His tenure included facility development and the establishment of its Center for Academic and Tutorial Services in 1981. The school also credits him with hiring its first athletics academic counselor.

That later work belongs beside the championship dates. Hagan's basketball life was not confined to a retired jersey or one celebrated trade. He was a player, an Air Force veteran, a player-coach and an administrator. His championships were earned on the floor; his later years helped shape the institution that had first put him on it.