Nice Cliff story

[RUskoolie]

Wanted to share real quick - my two girls are 4 and 7 and go to a fair amount of games at the RAC. They even made a We Love Cliff sign for one of the games and got on the jumbotron once. My 4 year old, anytime a hoops game is on (and even if Rutgers isn't playing) she asks where is Cliff? Where is 11?

So last night after the game we waited to try to get a picture with him. Waited and waited and waited and then finally event staff kicked us out. Sorry girls, not tonight. We walked out of the RAC and of course my oldest now has to go to the bathroom after we got pushed out. Well I caught a door that was opening, stuck my foot in and told my wife to run in with my daughter real quick.

Like 30 seconds later Cliff comes out with two girls with him and my sister in law practically throws my 4 year old at Cliff begging for a picture. My 4 year old was scared because of how tall he was (and I am 6'4), wouldn't high five him, wouldn't even look at him at first. So he picks her up and holds her so she is eye level with him and gets her to start smiling...and then my oldest happens to come out of the bathroom, hey get over here Cliff is here! She also runs into the picture. Snap, snap, snap. Pics taken.

So long story short, they got the picture, kids were happy as hell and its such a small gesture but he's such a nice kid. I have met him a couple times and I know people criticize him at times but you'll be talking about Cliff 20-30 years from now. Athletes in the moment don't realize how much of an impact they have on people but he really made my kids night and then the desert to this story is he even shared the pictures on his Instagram stories when my sister in law tagged him.

Great kid, great night.

 

[fatsam98]

Had a similar experience getting a photo with my 7 year old. He really couldn't have been any nicer. Might have helped that we were both wearing his NIL gear lol

 

[DirtyRU]

I told my son several weeks ago that he often doesn't play with an agressiveness, a mean streak, angry play like the way Pacheco runs. Of course when I said it this was off the cusp of a few "softer" Cliff performances. He has since played more aggressive for sure, but if anyone has met him, he is SO kind and just always smiling, so I'm not surprised that he has a hard time turning up his inner aggression in games. Just a genuinely nice and cheerful young man. And to the photo story, love it!!! That is great stuff, one of those "It was meant to be" moments with her having to go back in to use the bathroom, etc. Thx for sharing!

 

[RUBubba]

99.9% of the time, the players love the attention from the kids. Maybe after a tough loss they won't be quite so cheerful, but after the game last night, it would have been all good.

Before the APC, I took my son over to the RAC to straighten out a ticket situation. Couple of the players were stepping out for practice, so we went down to the court. Two of them took my son onto the court to shoot, including a 3 point shooting contest with one who was dismissed from the team the following year.

The players know that kids have no ulterior motives and see them as "stars".

And I will say that seeing your kid have a moment like that, is awesome.

 

[rucoe89]

Wanted to share real quick - my two girls are 4 and 7 and go to a fair amount of games at the RAC. They even made a We Love Cliff sign for one of the games and got on the jumbotron once. My 4 year old, anytime a hoops game is on (and even if Rutgers isn't playing) she asks where is Cliff? Where is 11?

So last night after the game we waited to try to get a picture with him. Waited and waited and waited and then finally event staff kicked us out. Sorry girls, not tonight. We walked out of the RAC and of course my oldest now has to go to the bathroom after we got pushed out. Well I caught a door that was opening, stuck my foot in and told my wife to run in with my daughter real quick.

Like 30 seconds later Cliff comes out with two girls with him and my sister in law practically throws my 4 year old at Cliff begging for a picture. My 4 year old was scared because of how tall he was (and I am 6'4), wouldn't high five him, wouldn't even look at him at first. So he picks her up and holds her so she is eye level with him and gets her to start smiling...and then my oldest happens to come out of the bathroom, hey get over here Cliff is here! She also runs into the picture. Snap, snap, snap. Pics taken.

So long story short, they got the picture, kids were happy as hell and its such a small gesture but he's such a nice kid. I have met him a couple times and I know people criticize him at times but you'll be talking about Cliff 20-30 years from now. Athletes in the moment don't realize how much of an impact they have on people but he really made my kids night and then the desert to this story is he even shared the pictures on his Instagram stories when my sister in law tagged him.

Great kid, great night.

Great story!

 

[Scangg]

Love hearing stories like this. Makes it that much more fun to root for the young man

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

Great stuff, once of my son's teachers has a son that played hoops with Cliff at Roselle Catholic. She and her son spoke so highly of Cliff and root very hard for Cliff to succeed.

One of the initial stories during the recruiting process for Cliff was hearing how down to earth someone like Cliff is. I won't say who shared this with me way back then, but someone attended the Midnight madness event we had where Cliff showed up (might have been one of his either unofficial visits or an official visit) and was told "he is a perfect fit for RU and our team, he could have a big ego or think he is bigger than everyone else, but he blends right in with our roster".

You never want to forget how far RU has progressed from doormat to respectable to winning program to the next levels, but we aren't here or anywhere close to it, if Cliff doesn't commit to RU and provide an anchor for the programs defense, rebounding and status.

Adding in these stories and it makes it very easy to root for the kids in the program.

 

[shields]

Very nice story.

 

[FmrMgrRU]

Pic is on his ig story

 

[LeapinLou]

Just went on his Instagram and saw it. Awesome.

 

[toby83]

That's awesome

 

[RUPete]

Great post! And I have to say that my experience with the guys under Pike over the years has been similar to this.

 

[blueoyster]

It the Rutgers culture...got to hand it to Pike and Greg for recruiting great kids!! And, obviously, hand it to the players for being great men!!

 

[RUBlackout]

Wanted to share real quick - my two girls are 4 and 7 and go to a fair amount of games at the RAC. They even made a We Love Cliff sign for one of the games and got on the jumbotron once. My 4 year old, anytime a hoops game is on (and even if Rutgers isn't playing) she asks where is Cliff? Where is 11?

So last night after the game we waited to try to get a picture with him. Waited and waited and waited and then finally event staff kicked us out. Sorry girls, not tonight. We walked out of the RAC and of course my oldest now has to go to the bathroom after we got pushed out. Well I caught a door that was opening, stuck my foot in and told my wife to run in with my daughter real quick.

Like 30 seconds later Cliff comes out with two girls with him and my sister in law practically throws my 4 year old at Cliff begging for a picture. My 4 year old was scared because of how tall he was (and I am 6'4), wouldn't high five him, wouldn't even look at him at first. So he picks her up and holds her so she is eye level with him and gets her to start smiling...and then my oldest happens to come out of the bathroom, hey get over here Cliff is here! She also runs into the picture. Snap, snap, snap. Pics taken.

So long story short, they got the picture, kids were happy as hell and its such a small gesture but he's such a nice kid. I have met him a couple times and I know people criticize him at times but you'll be talking about Cliff 20-30 years from now. Athletes in the moment don't realize how much of an impact they have on people but he really made my kids night and then the desert to this story is he even shared the pictures on his Instagram stories when my sister in law tagged him.

Great kid, great night.

Great story and thanks for sharing! Saw that post Instagram and it’s great

 

[RUHouston]

Just plain awesome!

 

[RUDave_01]

That makes me want to get him back even more next year. If he is even considering it, he's more than welcome to play on this team.