| Position | Guard |
|---|---|
| Height | 6 ft |
| Height in | 2 |
| Weight lb | 185 |
| Number | 10 |
| Birth date | January 15, 1921 |
| Birth place | Yorktown, Indiana, U.S. |
| Death date | March 17, 1998 (aged 77) |
| Death place | Satsuma, Florida, U.S. |
| High school | Yorktown (Yorktown, Indiana) |
| College | Kentucky (1946–1949) |
| Draft round | 5 |
| Draft pick | 52 |
| Draft year | 1949 |
| Draft team | Washington Capitols |
| Career start | 1949 |
| Career end | 1952 |
| Years 1 | – |
| Team 1 | Indianapolis Olympians |
| Highlights |
|
| Stat1label | Points |
| Stat1value | 557 |
| Stat2label | Rebounds |
| Stat2value | 181 |
| Stat3label | Assists |
| Stat3value | 294 |
| Bbr | barkecl01 |
Clifford Eugene Barker (January 15, 1921 – March 17, 1998) was an American basketball player who won the gold medal with the USA national basketball team at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London[1][2] and two national championships at the University of Kentucky.
While at the University of Kentucky, Barker was an All-SEC (Second Team) and All-SEC Tournament guard during the 1947–48 and 1948–49 seasons.
A member of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, Barker was a B-17 Flying Fortress waist gunner and spent 16 months as a prisoner-of-war. "Fancy Nancy III," the B-17 he was assigned to was shot down in the vicinity of Konigslutter. "Fancy Nancy III" was assigned to the 612 Bombardment Squadron, a unit of the 401st Bombardment Group.[3][4][5]
Career statistics
NBA
Source[6]
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949–50 | Indianapolis | 49 | .372 | .708 | 2.2 | 5.7 | ||
| 1950–51 | Indianapolis | 56 | .252 | .649 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 2.7 | |
| 1951–52 | Indianapolis | 44 | 11.2 | .298 | .588 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 2.9 |
| Career | 149 | 11.2 | .316 | .662 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 3.7 | |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949–50 | Indianapolis | 6 | .387 | .667 | 2.2 | 5.7 | |
| 1950–51 | Indianapolis | 3 | .211 | .000 | 5.0 | 3.3 | 2.7 |
| Career | 9 | .320 | .556 | 5.0 | 2.6 | 4.7 | |
Head coaching record
NBA
|- | style="text-align:left;"|Indianapolis | style="text-align:left;"| |64||39||25|||| style="text-align:center;"|1st in Western||6||3||3|| | style="text-align:center;"|Lost in Division finals |- | style="text-align:left;"|Indianapolis | style="text-align:left;"| |56||24||32|||| style="text-align:center;"|(resigned)||—||—||—||— | style="text-align:center;"|Missed Playoffs |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career[7] ||120||63||57|||| ||6||3||3||
See also
References
- ^ "UK Career Statistics and Bio for Cliff Barker". Retrieved September 10, 2010.
- ^ "Cliff Barker". Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
- ^ "Clifford Eugene Barker". American Air Museum. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
- ^ "42-37856 Fancy Nancy III". American Air Museum. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
- ^ "UK Career Statistics and Bio for Cliff Barker"
- ^ "Cliff Barker". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
- ^ "Cliff Barker Coaching Record". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 9 September 2025.