A 6-4 forward who excelled with the hook shot, Hagan played his entire 10-year NBA career (1956-1966) with the St. Louis Hawks. He also served as a player-coach for the Dallas Chaparrals in the first two-plus years of the ABA’s existence (1967-1970).
Hagan played college basketball at the University of Kentucky under legendary coach Adolph Rupp. As a sophomore in 1951 he helped Kentucky win the NCAA Championship with a 68-58 victory over Kansas State.
In the fall of 1952, a point shaving scandal involving three Kentucky players (one of whom was a teammate of Hagan on Kentucky’s 1951 NCAA champions) over a four-year period forced Kentucky to forfeit its upcoming season. The suspension of the season made Kentucky's basketball team, in effect, the first college sports team to get the "death penalty." Had the NCAA allowed Kentucky to play, the Wildcats, led by Hagan and Frank Ramsey, would likely have won their fourth NCAA title in six seasons.
In 1954 Hagan and Ramsey (who stayed at Kentucky for one more season despite graduating and being selected by the Boston Celtics in the previous year’s NBA draft) led Kentucky to a perfect 25-0 regular season record. Had the Wildcats not declined an NCAA bid, that team probably would also have won a championship; they finished the regular season ranked #1 by the Associated Press. In Kentucky’s opening game that season, an 86-59 victory over Temple on December 5, 1953, Hagan scored a school single-game record 51 points.
Upon graduation from Kentucky, Hagan had scored 1475 points, which ranked him third in school history, and grabbed 1035 rebounds, which placed him second, three fewer than Ramsey. In 1952 and 1954 he was named both All-American and First Team All-Southeastern Conference. His uniform number 6 is retired by the University of Kentucky.
Upon graduation, Hagan, like Ramsey before him, was drafted by the Celtics. Unlike Ramsey, however, Hagan served in the military for two years after being drafted (Ramsey had served in the military for one year after his rookie season). In both of his years in the military (1954 and 1955), Hagan, stationed at Andrews Air Force Base, won Worldwide Air Force basketball championships. After his military service, Hagan and Ed Macauley were traded to the St. Louis Hawks for the draft rights to Bill Russell. In 1958, his second season in the NBA, the Hawks, led by Hagan and Bob Pettit, won the NBA championship (one of the five Western Conference titles the Hawks won during his tenure with them), defeating, ironically, the Boston Celtics, 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. Hagan was named to play in five consecutive NBA All-Star Games from 1958 to 1962 (an injury forced him to miss the 1958 classic). In his 10 NBA seasons, Hagan played 745 games and scored 13,447 points for an 18.0 average.
In 1967, the Dallas Chaparrals of the newly-formed ABA hired Hagan as a player-coach. He scored 40 points in his team’s very first game. He also played in the very first ABA All-Star Game that season, becoming the first player to play in All-Star Games in both the NBA and ABA. He retired as a player after playing three games during the 1969-1970 season and remained as Chaparral coach until midway into the season. Hagan played in 94 ABA games and scored 1423 points for a 15.1 average.
Hagan was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, the first ex-University of Kentucky player to be so honored.
Disclaimer
NOPACTALENT acts only as an entertainment broker/producer for corporate functions, private events and speaking engagements. NOPACTALENT does not claim or represent itself as the exclusive agent, manager or management for any artist on this website. NOPACTALENT is a celebrity talent booking agency and speaker booking agency representing organizations seeking to hire motivational speakers, athletes, celebrities and corporate entertainment for private corporate events, celebrity endorsements, personal appearances, spokesperson campaigns and speaking engagements.
Related Tags:
Find More Booking Information on Cliff Hagan for speaking engagements, personal appearances, endorsements, private corporate events and celebrity appearance fees. Hire Cliff Hagan for personal appearances, celebrity marketing agency, print advertising, product endorsements, media events and fundraisers. Cliff Hagan talent agent, celebrity appearances, celebrity representation, celebrity talent booking agent, find speakers bureau or booking agent for Cliff Hagan. Official Booking Agency for Conventions and Trade Shows, Television and Radio Commercials, Spokesperson or Spokesman Campaigns, Marketing Agent, Celebrity Biographies. Cliff Hagan Agent, booking agency, celebrity talent agent, keynote speaking engagements, Cliff Hagan manager, publicist, business manager, find top rated business speakers, celebrity entertainers, celebrity speakers, promotions, celebrity advertising, representation, talent booking agent, celebrity booking services, hire celebrity talent, celebrity spokespersons, celebrity experts, celebrity spokesperson agency, celebrity supplier, event speaker agency, sports and athlete personal appearances, sports promotions. NOPACTALENT is home to all industry experts including: Celebrity Fitness Trainers, Celebrity Chefs, Celebrity Stylists, Fashion Experts, Lifestyle/Entertaining Experts, Health Experts, Home Improvement Experts, Organizational Experts, Relationship Experts, Travel Experts and much more.
