Sad news - Cliff Robinson has passed away | Page 4 | The Boneyard

Sad news - Cliff Robinson has passed away

Cliffy would've killed it in today's NBA...

Ballislife.com on Twitter: "@ShamsCharania Cliff Robinson is also one of 3 players (w/ Sheed & Dirk) in NBA history with more than 1,000 3PTS, BLKS & STLS. Best Game: 50 PTS (17/26 FG) https://post original url/L3e7pcO01l" / Twitter
 
My wife lived in McMahon when Cliff lived there. When he was down the hallway and someone was going down the elevator he always used to yell, "Hold the 'vator!" I hope someone is holding the 'vator for him today on his way to heaven.
 
Cliff Robinson is one of those rare college athletes that changes the trajectory of an entire program, and in our case, an entire university. UConn was a doormat in the Big East and a nonentity on the national stage when Cliff committed to our school. The school not only won 4 national championships on the foundation Cliff built, but also raised billions through UConn 2000, other state funding, and private fundraising leveraging the popularity of the basketball programs.

Many coaches, administrators and players were instrumental in making that happen, but few were as important as Cliff Robinson.

Rest in peace.
 
Hey Adrien! said:
I'm 34 and Cliff was one of the first NBA players I remember thinking to myself "woah, he went to UConn". Somewhere in the kindergarten/first grade timeframe when the brain is so influential and you're at an age where you can start making decisions for yourself that last a lifetime. Arguably, he sparked my interest in UConn before Ray Allen, Travis Knight, Kevin Freeman...

In a way, my UConn fandom and degree is indebted to his hard work before, during and after his time in Storrs. RIP Cliff.
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Great share. Thank you for this.
 
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Chin Diesel said:
Some random thoughts on Cliff's impact on and off the court.

His highlight clips really look similar to Charlie V's clips. Big guys who could face the basket, use the backboard, run and were generally a tough match up skill wise for college 4's and 5's.
After seeing the beast that the BE conference would become in the early 80's, Cliff was the first UConn player who could match up with the best of the conference. Check out the highlights against 'Cuse and Coleman or G'twon and Alonzo Mourning.
Off the court, Phil Gamble and Cliff becoming academically ineligible their sophomore seasons can be looked at as having a huge impact on UConn going forward. Their ineligibility shone the light on UConn's lack of resources for players and having a staff to monitor progress and eligibility. In some ways, those forced changes should have made UConn more attractive for other recruits since the recruits could had tangible evidence of UConn's support.
Cliff was supposed to be a sure fire first round pick and was invited to NY for the draft telecast. Him not being selected until the second round was a shock.
His NBA clips of his early years running the break and his dunks showed a level of athleticism he rarely got to show at UConn.

Cliff was on the wrong end of one of MJ's most memorable on court moments. The jumper over Craig Ehlo, the shrug at Cliff after hitting all those 3's in NBA and the jump shot over Russell and the Jazz. Cliff had the best career of those three on the receiving end of those clips.
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I would 100% agree.
 
Dogdeacon said:
Ditto, I lived on 5th floor of McMahon with Cliff his freshman year. I often tell the story of the first party of the semester when Cliff couldn't pay the $3 fee for Schaeffer bar bottle party, we let him come anyway & I enjoyed some extracurriculars with him at the party. Next, I vividly remember a McMahon dance where he stood in the middle of the dance floor and slowly spun around with arms spread - both he and everyone there marveling in his outsized body.
Cliff & UConn were ROBBED in his last game at the Fieldhouse in the NIT when he was called for a BS charge on a monster dunk in the last minute of the game.
Cliff was of course a fixture at Ted's, there's an apocryphal story that I'm sure is true (and probably happened multiple times) of Cliff throwing a dart into someone's arm or back.
Cliff always said hello & recognized me the few times I saw him after UConn including once at an NBA game and most recently at one of the Calhoun charity classics. A great player, nice gentle soul.
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I was in McMahon at the same time, I lived on 3. We met Cliff and Phil (who did not live in McMahon) the first week of school. I have many great stories I could share, but most are not appropriate or might be misinterpreted. Suffice to say, we partied a LOT w those two and several other players (including Spider, who was a GREAT guy that nobody knew about). I’ll settle for a couple innocuous ones:

1. Most afraid I ever was: when I let Cliff and Earl Kelley borrow my car for a night to do god knows what.
2. Funniest PG-rated story about Cliff: we partied before one home football game freshman year. It was raining out. He grabbed one of those big tables umbrellas and walked around all day with it to shield himself from the rain. It was probably 8 feet in diameter. But he was so damn big it actually fit him appropriately.
3. PS: Cliff and Phil were AWFUL at drinking games. We used to destroy them.
 
One of my favorites and was the man when I first started watching the Huskies. I bought his 'jersey' at a game before wearing college jerseys to school was a thing. It was basically a white Fruit of the Loom tank top with "Connecticut" on the front with 00 under it and on the back. Was a prized possession until I grew out of it. RIP Uncle Cliffy
 
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BugsyCT said:
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Cliff Robinson might be the most important player to have played for UCONN! IMO, he's the first important recruit we had that's linked to the program's national success. He was the best player the UCONN team that won an NIT championship & then he had considerable success in the NBA - despite not being drafted until well into the 2nd round. Before Cliff came, we were just another bottom dweller in the Big East (think BC,PC, Seton Hall). Without him, does Chris Smith come here (huge get) and after that Scott Burrell. UCONN back then was not a national or even regional program.

Once UCONN became a serious consideration for the top in-state players, they were then able to go nation/world-wide and it's debatable that if JC didn't have Cliff when he arrived that this would have been possible.
 
These stories you guys are telling about Cliff are a fascinating read on a sad day and a tough year in general.

This is the guy who got it all started in the Calhoun era and was our first known NBA guy. 53 Is just way too young, sadly 3 of our guys on the NIT team have passed and 3 of the guys on the Blazers have as well. A huge loss for this program the Blazers and the NBA. RIP Uncle Cliff
 
I lived in Manhattan in 1988. After the hard fought loss to Pittsburgh (#1 seed, ranked #5 at the time, game was closer than 75-58 final) in the Big East quarterfinals, after finally winning an 8-9 game vs Providence, I made my way down to courtside. Managed to get up to Cliff. Told him "See you back here in 3 weeks". While nothing will ever replace the 1999 championship as the best UConn game of my lifetime, the 1988 NIT championship is 1a. Rest easy Uncle Spliffy
 
True story. I was in Philly on business way back and sitting at the bar at Smith and Wollenskys in Rittenhouse Square. Tall guy sits next to me and wasn’t it Uncle Cliffy in town for a game against the Sixers. Introduced myself and thanked him for his role in Husky Mania. We talked for the next 90 minutes until we had both eaten dinner. He picked up my tab an unnecessary move since I could have expensed it and then left me two tickets at Will Call for the following nights game. He was chill and super cool talk to
 
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Chin Diesel said:
Sadly you have to be almost 40 or older to remember him playing at UConn.

Perno's last big time recruit and the key player to starting turnaround under JC.

19,9k+ points in NBA, 6k rebounds and over 1000 3's made in his career.
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I never got to see him in college but i saw him play in the NBA and remember being so excited that he was a Uconn guy. RIP Cliffy.
 
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Rip Cliffy. He was one of my first UConn memories as a young kid loved that squad when I was in 5th grade with Gamble and Tate and him. Too bad he missed the dream season by a year and what an underrated career in Portland. God , I’m gonna party like it’s 1999 this New Year’s Eve. Can we just end this year already? Rip Cliff. Sad
 
Oh Uncle Cliffy.
Thank you for all you did during a dark time and for helping turn us around.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
Cliff Robinson is one of those rare college athletes that changes the trajectory of an entire program, and in our case, an entire university. UConn was a doormat in the Big East and a nonentity on the national stage when Cliff committed to our school. The school not only won 4 national championships on the foundation Cliff built, but also raised billions through UConn 2000, other state funding, and private fundraising leveraging the popularity of the basketball programs.

Many coaches, administrators and players were instrumental in making that happen, but few were as important as Cliff Robinson.

Rest in peace.
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Great post.
 
RIP Uncle Cliffy
Enjoy a Spliffy and do your dance
You are the headband
Thanks for the memories
 
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