Plano West's Cline commits to Niagara

Plano West’s T.J. Cline, the District 8-5A Offensive Player of the Year, has committed to Niagara. Cline blossomed as a senior to help lead Plano West to a second-place district finish. The 6-8 son of Hall of Fame basketball player Nancy Lieberman, Cline averaged 16.0 points and 7.8 rebounds.

With a growth spurt of nearly 10 inches during his sophomore and junior years on the junior varsity, the 6-8 cline blossomed into a crafty scorer, passer, 3-point shooter and ball-handler for his senior season at West, which finished second behind 2-time Class 5A state champion Flower Mound Marcus.

Being from a basketball family, his dad Tim played for the touring Washington Generals of Harlem Globetrotter fame.

Niagara is considered one of the nation’s top NCAA mid-major basketball programs in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC.)  In 15 years under highly respected coach Joe Mihalic, Niagara has two NCAA tournament berths .