Cliffton Nirgel Alexander (born November 16, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Guaiqueríes de Margarita of the Superliga Profesional de Baloncesto (SPB). He completed his freshman season at the University of Kansas for the Jayhawks' on their 2014–15 team. He declared himself eligible for the 2015 NBA draft but was undrafted. He played one season for the Portland Trail Blazers and earned a second year of NBA service with the Brooklyn Nets.
He played in high school at Curie High School in Chicago where he won Naismith and Mr. Basketball USA recognition as national player of the year. He did not play organized basketball until eighth grade, but by late in his freshman season he became a notable contributor to his high school's varsity team. He was ranked among the top 20 prospects in the national class of 2014 prior to his sophomore season. As a junior, he moved into the top 10 of the national class and was recognized as an All-American. By the beginning of his senior season, he was considered to be a top 5 player by most talent evaluators and his stock was still on the rise. Following a Martin Luther King Day performance during his senior year against the number one team in the country, many experts considered him to be the best player in the national class of 2014.
In 2013, he represented USA Basketball in international play. Several talent scouts praised his powerful game. As a high schooler, Alexander felt he was most often compared to Amar'e Stoudemire. He was also contrasted with crosstown rival Jahlil Okafor, especially as a senior when they vied for national attention. Alexander was heavily recruited by many top Division I basketball programs and his recruitment was widely followed. He played in the 2014 McDonald's All-American Boys Game, 2014 Jordan Brand Classic and the 2014 Nike Hoop Summit, earning co-MVP of the Jordan Brand Classic. Alexander led Curie to the 2014 Chicago Public High School League city championship in a quadruple-overtime game against Okafor that was the lead story on SportsCenter. The championship was later forfeited. As a freshman with Kansas, he did not play in the latter part of the season after the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) launched an investigation into his eligibility.
High school career
Freshman season Alexander, who was also a highly regarded football player, did not play organized basketball until eighth grade. Alexander played on Curie's 2010–11 varsity team as a freshman, but had little impact at first and sat out some games in December. He missed the first ten games due to a heart murmur. In late December, he started getting local attention as part of the reason Curie remained undefeated. During the Chicago Public High School League (CPL) and Illinois High School Association (IHSA) playoffs, he contributed significant performances. On March 9, 2011, Curie was eliminated from the IHSA playoffs in a Class 4A sectional semifinal by Lyons Township High School as freshman Alexander posted 9 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 blocks in a 66–64 loss. His late-season contributions gave Curie an added dimension, as the team finished with a 28–3 record. Following his freshman season, Alexander began to be recognized by local evaluators as a potential top national recruit. After Jabari Parker and Jahlil Okafor, Alexander was already considered the best Chicago area basketball prospect. He earned Red-Central all-conference recognition.
Sophomore season As late as August 2011, Alexander remained unrecognized by most national evaluators. However, as Alexander entered his sophomore season, he was one of three area prospects that were firmly among the national class of 2014's top 25 prospects (along with Whitney M. Young Magnet High School teammates Okafor and Paul White). As of September 1, 2011, Alexander was ranked 13 by ESPN.com and 9 by Rivals.com. On December 30 in the Pontiac Holiday Tournament, Parker's Simeon Career Academy defeated Alexander's Curie 44–27 as Alexander was almost shut out by Simeon's Steve Taylor. On January 22, 2013, Okafor and Alexander went head to head in CPL play. Curie defeated Young by a 57–46 margin as Alexander had 10 points, six rebounds and three blocks before having a personal foul disqualification. Despite fouling out, Alexander had the better game with nearly a dozen Division I programs in attendance. Curie had a rematch against Simeon in the February 17 CPL championship game with Alexander again being ineffective on offense with four points against Parker and Taylor as Curie lost 53–49. The game broadcast on ESPN3. Following the season, a statewide panel of sportswriters and broadcaster voted Alexander as an Associated Press boys basketball Class 4A all-state honorable mention honoree.
Junior season
At the June 2012 Pangos All-American Camp, Alexander was selected as the Most Outstanding Player. Alexander, who was already a top 5 recruit according to some sources, endured a Summer 2012 foot injury that sidelined him. By mid-July 2012, as ESPN's number 10 ranked prospect, he received an offer from Kentucky and was being recruited by DePaul, Indiana, Ohio State and Wisconsin. Upon receiving his offer from Kentucky, he told Rivals.com that his two leading schools were Kentucky and Michigan State.
By the fall of his junior season, the Illinois class of 2014 was being mentioned as one of the all-time great statewide classes of basketball players. Chicago Sun-Times writer Joe Henricksen noted that there was a high chance that this would be the fifth Illinois class and first since 2002 to include three McDonald's All-Americans. He also noted that the class has a chance to rival if not surpass the classes of 1998 and 2011 which each had nine top 100 players.
On November 30, at a Draffenville, Kentucky tournament game against Oak Hill Academy, Alexander scored 26 of his team's 39 points on 12–14 field goal shooting in a 72–39 defeat. On December 29, Curie again faced Parker and Simeon in the Pontiac Holiday Tournament (this time in the semifinals). Alexander posted 21 points on 9–10 field goal shooting, but Simeon still prevailed 62–57. Notably, Parker assumed Alexander as a defensive assignment after Alexander gave Curie a 48–47 lead with 4:58 time remaining and Alexander went scoreless the rest of the game. Despite 11 points, 9 rebounds and 8 blocked shots from Alexander, Curie was eliminated from the CPL playoffs in a February 11 quarterfinals 60–58 loss to the Billy Garrett, Jr.-led Morgan Park High School that went on to become 2013 IHSA Class 3A state champion. On February 26, the Associated Press Illinois Class 4A basketball rankings showed Whitney Young at number 1, and it was also expected that Young's road to the sectional finals would include a March 6 meeting with Curie. According to Henricksen, the March 6 state playoff meeting between Young and Curie was anticipated because it would pit Okafor against Alexander, making it the most highly touted IHSA playoff matchup of centers since 1988 when LaPhonso Ellis led East Saint Louis' Lincoln High School against Eric Anderson's St. Francis de Sales High School. Mike Helfgot of the Chicago Tribune said that there have not been many matchups between big men this good with so much at stake. On March 2, Alexander attended Senior night at University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign's Assembly Hall. The February 2013 Great Plains blizzard caused controversial postponements of several IHSA games including the March 6 Young-Curie game, which was delayed one day. Young defeated Curie 62–58 as the supporting cast made up for Alexander's 14–13 scoring edge over Okafor.
In late April 2013, Okafor's father believed it was very possible that Okafor and Tyus Jones would matriculate together as a package. By late April 2013, there were rumors that Alexander and Justise Winslow would attend whatever school Jones and Okafor attended. Although Alexander was ranked as the fifth best player in the class of 2014 by Rivals.com and had offers from four of the six schools common to Jones and Okafor by the beginning of June, he said the chances of him matriculating with Jones and Okafor was slim.
Alexander was recognized as a 2013 All-CPL first team selection by the Chicago Sun-Times along with Parker, Okafor, Kendrick Nunn and Garrett. Alexander was recognized as an Associated Press All-State Class 4A first team selection along with Parker, Okafor, Malcolm Hill and Sterling Brown. The Chicago Tribune named him to its All-State first team along with Parker, Okafor, Jalen Brunson and Tyler Ulis. Alexander was one of five underclassmen selected by HighSchoolHardwood.com as an All-American, along with Okafor, Jones and Stanley Johnson (all first team) and Joel Berry (second team along with Alexander).
Senior season
Summer and preseason Alexander has become a member of the Mac Irvin Fire AAU team along with Okafor. During the Nike-backed Pro-Am summer basketball Chi-League Alexander, Okafor and Parker were on the same team. He showed potential that LeBron James himself noticed at the July LeBron James Skills Academy. He also stood out at the July Under Armour Summa Jam, where his Mac Irvin Fire opposed teams led by Myles Turner and Karl-Anthony Towns. On September 4, 2013, Rivals.com updated their ranking with Alexander maintaining his number 4 ranking. At the time, Eric Bossi of Rivals described Alexander as " perhaps the most powerful player in the high school ranks".
In September, Alexander believed that he would make his final selection with a December verbal commitment and an April signing of his National Letter of Intent. On October 7, the Hoophall Classic schedule was announced and Curie was scheduled to play Montverde Academy on January 20. By some accounts Kansas was a favorite because his girlfriend was a student at Kansas and the 2013–14 Kansas Jayhawks were scheduled to play the 2013–14 Duke Blue Devils at Chicago's United Center in the ESPN Champions Classic on November 12 just before his scheduled announcement. In 2013 Caelynn Manning-Allen became a freshman on the Kansas women's basketball team. However, Illinois was very excited to be in serious contention for Alexander. It was the first time since Derrick Rose in 2006 that a top 5 prospect was still considering Illinois so late into his senior year and Alexander's level of interest seemed much higher than Rose's. Following his Illinois visit, his scheduled announcement date had moved forward to November 15. On October 31, Alexander officially eliminated Michigan State from his candidate list, leaving Kansas, Illinois, DePaul and Memphis in contention.
On November 7 Alexander was ranked second behind points leader Emmanuel Mudiay in the Mr. Basketball USA preseason tracker. Although he had only one first place vote on the ten ballots, he was ranked ahead of Okafor and Stanley Johnson who combined for seven first place votes. Alexander and Mudiay were the only players named on 9 of the 10 ballots. The preseason points leader has gone on to win the award in four of the prior five years. His November 15 verbal commitment announcement was scheduled on the same date as Okafor, Jones and Stanley Johnson. According to ESPN, all four were among the top 10 in the national class (Okafor #1, Alexander #3, Jones #4 and Johnson #9). On the eve of his announcement, Kansas and Illinois were the favorites for his services. He made his verbal commitment on ESPNU to Kansas basketball on November 15. He was flanked by his father (Clifton Terry) and mother (Latillia Alexander). Prior to his senior season, USA Today named him to its 10-man preseason All-USA team along with Stanley Johnson, Jones, Trey Lyles, Emmanuel Mudiay, Malik Newman, Okafor, Oubre, D'Angelo Russell, and Turner. Alexander was joined on the Chicago Tribune preseason Illinois Mr. Basketball top 5 by Okafor, Brunson, Ulis and Keita Bates-Diop.
2013–14 regular season