Higgins Got Lost in ’84 and Hasn’t Been Seen Since

For a basketball player with professional aspirations, attending a Division II university is like entering the Justice Department’s Federal Witness Protection Program: No one knows who or where you are.

Cliff Higgins, a former Cal State Northridge forward, can swear to that.

Although he was a Division II All-American and California Collegiate Athletic Assn. Player of the Year twice before graduating in 1984, he was seldom scouted while playing for the Matadors. Drafted in the seventh round by the Golden State Warriors, he was dropped after a week of rookie camp.

Today, he’s getting even less court time in the NBA Pro-Am League at Inglewood High. And he wonders what went wrong.

“Sometimes I think I’m a lost soul, no one knows about me,” Higgins said. “Maybe a few, but not the right people who can get me to where I want to be.”

Higgins, 22, would have like to have been at Warrior rookie camp July 16-19 at Pacific High in San Leandro, but Golden State General Manger Al Attles did not invite him.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t bring him back this year, because we do have a responsibility to the people we drafted,” Attles said. “We have a number of small forwards that we would like to look at. We know what Cliff can do.”

Northridge opponents found out what the 6-6, 195-pound forward could do--the hard way.

Nicknamed “Windex” for his ability to clean the boards of rebounds, Higgins holds the CSUN season record for most field goals (491). He also ranks second in career scoring with 1,221 points, and his 515 points in 1984 placed him fifth on the single-season scoring list. His career rebounding average in 76 games was 8.8.

Unlike supercharged North Carolina forward Michael Jordan and huge Auburn forward Charles Barkley, however, Higgins did not receive much notice during his senior year.

Few Division II players have.

In 1983, the Lakers drafted Earl Jones from the University of the District of Columbia in the first round. Jones played seven minutes last season after sustaining a foot fracture in training camp and did not score. In 1985, the Cleveland Cavaliers took Virginia Union forward Charles Oakley in the first round. They quickly traded him to Chicago.

Higgins would have liked to have been traded anywhere. But he didn’t make it past rookie camp after being recruited by talent consultant Pete Newell. Performing before Attles and Coach John Bach left him bitter and confused.

“Al Attles never saw me play and Coach Bach never saw me play,” said Higgins, who is currently playing for Baratta Sports in the Pro-Am League. “I didn’t really get my fair shot because nobody knew about me. I didn’t dominate rookie camp, but I did well. Doing well is just not good enough.”

Although the Matadors never made it to NCAA playoffs during Higgins’ tenure, he showed a national audience his talent during the ’84 East-West All-Star game. He was the West team’s only Division II player.

In 17 minutes, he scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds. Said Higgins: “Everyone said all along that that I could play Division I basketball. That game proved that I could. That game probably got me drafted.”

One good game wasn’t enough, however, as his deficiencies surfaced during rookie camp. According to Attles, his outside jump shot was inconsistent, he couldn’t handle the ball, and he was too small.

In other words, he couldn’t dribble well enough to play guard, and he wasn’t big enough to play forward.

“When I went to rookie camp last year, I noticed that the difference between pro ball and college ball was the power and the strength of the players,” Higgins said.

Between the end of camp and the beginning of this summer, Higgins tried to improve.

“I worked hard in the off-season,” he said. “I gained about 10 pounds. I worked on my ball-handling skills.”

Whether or not the new Higgins is an improved Higgins remains to be seen. So far in the Pro-Am League, which began June 17 and runs through Aug. 24, Higgins has not received many chances to show off his strength and skills.

Higgins’ comeback attempt has been stalled by his lack of playing time on a team coached by Gary Baratta.

“It’s kind of hard to get established in this league, because I don’t really know this coach,” Higgins said. “He’s playing guys he’s known over the past two or three years. I don’t think it’s fair, but that’s the way the system works.”

Baratta, who draws players to summer leagues because of his extensive contacts with professional teams overseas, said that he is not familiar with Higgins’ accomplishments as a collegian.

“Higgins is in my plans but there are a couple of players ahead of him who will probably be able to play overseas sooner,” said Baratta, pointing out that one of the players is Gary Maloncon of UCLA, a third-round draft choice of the Los Angeles Clippers. “I didn’t even know he’d been drafted.”

Baratta, who also recruits players for the Continental Basketball Assn., said he expects Higgins to play Monday and Wednesday in the final two games of the Pro-Am regular season.

Scouts from teams in Italy, Argentina, Germany and the Philippines could be on the sidelines in those games. One of them might hold Higgins’ ticket to the pros, according to CSUN basketball Coach Pete Cassidy.

“You’d think with maturity and playing in a good level of competition like he is playing now would certainly enhance his position,” Cassidy said.

Cassidy noted that Higgins is a great leaper and would have been recruited by Division I schools had he played a second year at Harbor Community College.

“He’s quick and his best shot is going to be in the 10-15 foot range,” Cassidy said. “His shot would have to be more consistent. He’s an adequate outside shooter, not a great outside shooter.”

Higgins is, however, an optimist. He still hopes to make the NBA.

“I’ve been in contact with Golden State,” he said. “Attles told me that if someone got hurt or something, that he’d give me a call. If I don’t hear anything from them, I’ll just assume that they already have the people they want.”

Said Attles: “I told him last week, if we like some of the things he did a little better than some of the people we have, we would get back in contact with him.”

Basketball isn’t everything to Higgins, and it’s a good thing. Attles hasn’t called him back. He currently works as an engineering assistant for Rockwell International in Canoga Park, and expects to earn a degree in finance this summer from Cal State Northridge.

“I’m going to give myself one more year,” Higgins said. “I have something to fall back on. It’d be nice to play in the NBA, but it’s not everything. There are other things I want to do. Who knows? I might get lucky. If not, I’ve still got my degree.”