- Joined
- Sep 17, 2011
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I was deeply saddened hearing of Cliffs passing. He should still be here as a person of that age would expect to be. Back in the day as UConn struggled to be relevant in the Big East recruiting was so key to getting better and I would read the Journal Inquirer for Phil Chardis's reports on how we were doing with different players. When Cliff signed it was a huge deal as he was obviously on a different level talent wise. You could feel Cliffs frustration his freshman year. When Calhoun took over one game stuck out to me. We were playing Central Conn. and Cliff was going against Tyronne Canino. It got real chippy. There was a situation on the court and there may have been a technical foul (maybe someone else remembers) but Calhoun kept Cliff on the bench after that and Cliff was really upset. He wanted to get back in the game and compete. He looked to be close to tears. Calhoun must have known things could go real sour so he kept Cliff out. The attitude that made Cliff a long time NBA player at a high level was there that night. He did not want to be shown up. I was thrilled when he played so well in that NIT run.