Cliff Meely

{{Short description|American basketball player}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Cliff Meely

| image =

| width =

| caption =

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 8

| weight_lb = 218

| birth_date = {{birth date|1947|7|10}}

| birth_place = Rosedale, Mississippi, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2013|5|29|1947|7|10}}

| death_place = Boulder, Colorado, U.S.

| high_school = Harlan (Chicago, Illinois)

| college =

• Northeastern CC (1967–1968)
• Colorado (1968–1971)

| draft_year = 1971

| draft_round = 1

| draft_pick = 7

| draft_team = San Diego Rockets

| career_start = 1971

| career_end = 1981

| career_position = Power forward

| career_number = 25, 21

| years1 = {{nbay|1971|start}}–{{nbay|1975|end}}

| team1 = Houston Rockets

| years2 = {{nbay|1975|end}}

| team2 = Los Angeles Lakers

| years3 = 1977–1979

| team3 = AMG Sebastiani Rieti

| years4 = 1979–1980

| team4 = Mulhouse

| years5 = 1980–1981

| team5 = Lazio

| highlights =

• Second-team All-American – USBWA (1971)
• Third-team All-American – AP (1971)
• 2× Big Eight Player of the Year (1969, 1971)
• 3× First-team All-Big Eight (1969–1971)
• No. 20 retired by Colorado Buffaloes

| stats_league = NBA

| stat1label = Points

| stat1value = 2,658 (8.4 ppg)

| stat2label = Rebounds

| stat2value = 1,703 (5.4 rpg)

| stat3label = Assists

| stat3value = 398 (1.3 apg)

}}

Cliff Meely (July 10, 1947 – May 29, 2013) was an American basketball player who played five seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one year at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado, then at the University of Colorado Boulder for three years, from 1968 to 1971. He remains the Colorado Buffaloes' career leader in points per game and rebounds per game. Meely was a Big Eight all-conference performer all three years at Colorado, and was an All-American as a senior. He is one of only three Colorado basketball player to have his number retired.

He was drafted by the Houston Rockets in the 1971 NBA draft. He played for the Rockets for five years, before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in his last NBA season. He went on to play two years in Europe before recurring back spasms forced his retirement. His best season statistically was his rookie season, when he averaged 9.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per games. Meely died at a Boulder, Colorado hospital in 2013 of a blood infection. He was 65.[https://web.archive.org/web/20130530235839/http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/former-colorado-basketball-star-cliff-meely-dies-of-blood-infection-at-age-65/2013/05/29/4064c0a2-c8d2-11e2-9cd9-3b9a22a4000a_story.html Former Colorado basketball star Cliff Meely dies of blood infection at age 65]