Brent Briggeman: Paths of Nique Clifford, others enough to sway a stubborn opinion on NCAA transfer rules

The transfer culture in college sports, for all its faults, sure has been a blessing for some of the best recent basketball players in this beautiful state.

On Saturday, Nique Clifford scored 24 points and Colorado State stamped its ticket to the NCAA Tournament with its first Mountain West tournament championship since 2003.

The Rams, a 12 seed, will open the tournament in Seattle against No.

5 Memphis on Friday.

He's an all-time great, CSU coach Niko Medved said Saturday after his 6-foot-6 guard, on a rocket ship to the first round of the NBA draft, averaged 25 points in the Mountain West Tournament.

I think the dust needs to settle on it, but he's one of the best to ever do it here.

Added Clifford, the run to the title "feels super sweet." I think back to a hushed-tone conversation with Clifford in March 2023.

It was a celebratory locker room at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas as Colorado had just defeated Washington in a Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal, but the Vanguard School graduate was in no mood for cheer.

He had just gone 1-for-8 from the field and finished with two points.

He would play just 11 minutes the next night, his last game with the Buffaloes.

Its been up and down, Clifford said that night of a trying season.

Just been trying to figure things out.

Imagine if that version of Clifford, the one who averaged 5.9 points in his third and final season in Boulder, was all we were to see.

Or what if Derrick White was forever known simply as a UCCS star? History had another plan for the Parker native who was initially overlooked by every school but the NCAA Division II program in Colorado Springs and a junior college in Wyoming.

After a four-year crescendo with the Mountain Lions he utilized the transfer route to go to CU-Boulder and sharpen and showcase his skills.

Hes now an NBA champion, an Olympic gold medalist and under contract for more than $125 million with the Boston Celtics.

Dalton Knecht went from Prairie View High School in Thornton to two seasons at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, during which time he grew 5 inches.

He transferred to Northern Colorado and in his senior year was the best player in the Big Sky.

An extra year provided by COVID-19 allowed him to play one season as a grad transfer at Tennessee, where he was the best player in the SEC.

The L.A.

Lakers then made Knecht a first-round draft pick.

He scored 32 points Friday night against the Nuggets at Ball Arena.

Joel Scott, the last of the long line of Scott brothers at Lewis-Palmer, was the best player in NCAA Division II while at Black Hills State.

He graduated and transferred to Colorado State, where he teamed with Clifford last season and finished his college playing days in the NCAA Tournament.

At the Air Force Academy, the transfers only go one way.

While that has inevitably been damaging for the program, it allowed Matt Mooney to start in an NCAA championship game for Texas Tech and Jake Heidbreder to go dancing with fifth-seeded Clemson this season.

My reasoning for disliking the transfer portal has get-off-my-lawn roots.

I just long for a bygone era.

I grew up in Kansas in the days of four-year Jayhawks like Danny Manning and Jacque Vaughn and Raef Lafrentz.

I enjoy the connection gained from watching players develop and thrive.

I like to form attachments, instantly recognize names, faces and tendencies in other programs and enjoy the stability of continuity.

That's my problem, not basketball's.

We're writing our names in history, Clifford said after a late-night victory in the MW semifinals Friday.

Its a different history than what I would have initially wanted for college basketball and for myself as a fan.

But seeing this impact some great players (and great guys) is pretty darn nice, too.

And it has inarguably been better for players in the Centennial State.

My opinion on transfers, culture and all, is officially entering the portal..

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