• The first XULA men's basketball player and the only Gold Rush freshman to score 40 points in a game
• Scored 43 points against Benedict in an 81-31 victory during the 1942-43 season . . .
made 21 field goals against Benedict and shares that XULA record with Ken Broussard
• One of the first African Americans to sign with an NBA team . . . played
eight NBA seasons (1950-58), the first seven with the New York Knicks
• According to NBA.com, he was the first African American to appear in the NBA Finals
• Averaged 10 points and 8.2 rebounds in 544 NBA games
• He also played multiple seasons for the Harlem Globetrotters and in Negro league baseball
• Other inductions:
— Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame
— Chicago 16 Inch Softball Hall of Fame
— Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1974
— Black Athletes Hall of Fame in 1978
— Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014
• In 2005 the New York Knicks renamed their monthly "City Spirit Award" in his honor
• Longtime NBA referee Earl Strom in 1993 listed Clifton as one of his
10 toughest players of all time (also listed: Willis Reed and Karl Malone)
• Nicknamed "Sweetwater" because of his love of flavored drinks as a child
• Subject of the 2023 movie
"Sweetwater"
• Born in 1922 near England, Ark. . . . died in 1990 in Chicago at age 67
