Former Shocker basketball star Cliff Levingston to be inducted into MVC Hall of Fame
Former Wichita State men’s basketball All-American Cliff Levingston will be inducted into the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame next spring, the league announced on Wednesday.
Levingston, a 6-foot-8 center who starred for the Shockers from 1979-82, will be joined by long-time conference commissioner Doug Elgin, Southern Illinois women’s basketball coach Cindy Scott, Drake women’s basketball standout Carla Bennett and broadcast icons Charlie Steiner (Bradley) and Tom Jackson (Louisville) as part of the MVC’s 25th Hall of Fame class.
Induction will take place on the morning of Friday, March 4 at the Stifel Theatre in St. Louis. Tickets can be purchased by calling the MVC office at 314-444-4300.
A San Diego native, Levingston teamed with Antoine Carr for one of the most successful eras in WSU men’s basketball history. As a sophomore in the 1980-81 season, Levingston was the leading scorer and rebounder on a WSU team that won the MVC regular season title and knocked off Kansas in the NCAA Tournament on its way to an Elite Eight finish. The following season, he was named a third team All-American.
Levingston averaged 10.6 rebounds per game over his three seasons with the Shockers and ranks fourth all-time in program history with 965 career rebounds. He was inducted into the Shocker Sports Hall of Fame in 1990 and his No. 54 jersey has since been retired.
After deciding to forego his senior season to enter the 1982 NBA Draft, he was picked ninth overall by the Detroit Pistons and enjoyed an 11-year NBA career that saw him win two NBA championships in 1991 and 1992 with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and the Chicago Bulls.
After retiring from his playing career, Levingston spent many years as a semi-professional basketball coach. He originally retired from coaching in 2013, but decided to return to the sidelines this past year to coach the Kokomo BobKats, a minor league basketball team in Indiana.
Levingston will become the 13th Shocker inducted into the MVC Hall of Fame, joining Dave Stallworth (1997), Xavier McDaniel (1998), Antoine Carr (1999), Joe Carter (1999), Cleo Littleton (2000), Ralph Miller (2001), Phil Stephenson (2005), Roland Banks (2006), Linwood Sexton (2011), Darren Dreifort (2013), Eric Wedge (2017) and Don Beggs (2017).
This story was originally published August 26, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
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