Retiring Numbers in Other Duke Sports?

[awhom111]

Since we are now mostly in a quiet period for actual Duke topics, I thought this would be an interesting thread. Does anyone know if there have ever been any serious discussions about Duke retiring numbers in any other sports besides basketball? Does anyone know if other schools do this?

Fitting the general criteria usually associated with basketball number retirements, it would seem like a few players could be under consideration for such an honor. Duke has a solid history of Hermann Trophy winners and a number of Tewaarton Trophy winners now too, with both awards being quite prestigious. It would seem appropriate to have a level of individual honors for great players that is one step above the Duke Hall of Fame. What does everyone else think?

[Dev11]

Since we are now mostly in a quiet period for actual Duke topics, I thought this would be an interesting thread. Does anyone know if there have ever been any serious discussions about Duke retiring numbers in any other sports besides basketball? Does anyone know if other schools do this?

Fitting the general criteria usually associated with basketball number retirements, it would seem like a few players could be under consideration for such an honor. Duke has a solid history of Hermann Trophy winners and a number of Tewaarton Trophy winners now too, with both awards being quite prestigious. It would seem appropriate to have a level of individual honors for great players that is one step above the Duke Hall of Fame. What does everyone else think?

Given how many Duke Lax #40 jerseys and shirts you see walking around, I have always been a bit surprised that the number got re-appropriated a year after Matt Danowski graduated. I'm with you.

[burnspbesq]

Given how many Duke Lax #40 jerseys and shirts you see walking around, I have always been a bit surprised that the number got re-appropriated a year after Matt Danowski graduated. I'm with you.

According to the rosters posted at goduke.com, no one has worn 40 since Matt Danowski graduated, and no one has worn 22 since Crotty graduated. Might as well make it official and hang a couple of banners at Koskinen.

[Dukehky]

According to some of the kids on the squad a few years ago, Dano and Crotty's numbers are not going to be worn again. Only a matter of time before they're officially retired I would guess. Maybe it wouldn't look good at Koskinen since so many teams play there though? They should throw Howell in there too though. I give him 12 out of 10!

[Dev11]

According to the rosters posted at goduke.com, no one has worn 40 since Matt Danowski graduated, and no one has worn 22 since Crotty graduated. Might as well make it official and hang a couple of banners at Koskinen.

My bad, I thought I remembered seeing it at a game in 2011, but I guess I was mistaken.

On the topic of hanging jerseys at Koskinen, I think they should move all of the achievement banners to somewhere more visible, like the fence adjacent to the parking lot. The current boards that are on the field level are kind of ugly.

[awhom111]

So do people think that Katie Chrest's accomplishments deserve the same honor? Her number has been reused twice since she last played for Duke.

How about some Men's Soccer players?

I wonder if there would also be a way of bestowing a similar level of honor on the athletes who play in sports in which there are no jersey number?

I am interested in how other schools handle this sort of thing.

[msdukie]

Duke does not retire numbers in sports other than men's and women's basketball. There has been no explanations as there are NUMEROUS players in other sports who are worthy. This is very high on my Duke Athletics pet peeve list. Any NPOY in any other sport should clearly have their number retired if they graduated, as is automatic in MBB and WBB.

[Jim3k]

DW Hoops has campaign to retire Chris Moreland's No. 24 (http://www.dwhoops.com/c_moreland.php) and Georgia Schweitzer's No. 23 (http://www.dwhoops.com/g_schweitzer.php). I am in agreement that these two have long been overlooked, particularly Moreland.

[Mike Corey]

DW Hoops has campaign to retire Chris Moreland's No. 24 (http://www.dwhoops.com/c_moreland.php) and Georgia Schweitzer's No. 23 (http://www.dwhoops.com/g_schweitzer.php). I am in agreement that these two have long been overlooked, particularly Moreland.

This would be terrific.

Moreland was the standard-bearer of Duke women's basketball before Coach G turned Duke into a juggernaut.

And Schweitzer helped put Duke on the map perhaps more than any other player, until others advanced the bar even more.

(For full disclosure, I am biased in Schweitzer's favor: She is a Columbus product, and remains beloved here to this day.)

[johnb]

Duke does not retire numbers in sports other than men's and women's basketball. There has been no explanations as there are NUMEROUS players in other sports who are worthy. This is very high on my Duke Athletics pet peeve list. Any NPOY in any other sport should clearly have their number retired if they graduated, as is automatic in MBB and WBB.

My understanding is that fans have read the tea leaves and compiled a guess as to the criteria for retirement, but I don't think it's as simple as NPOY. Elton Brand, for example, was NPOY but left after two years. K has said national recognition, but that meaning is vague. Graduation is probably required, which would explain Brand vs Jason Williams, who graduated after three. And I'd imagine if someone graduated, was NPOY, but was --to K-- a jerk, the banner wouldn't go up. OTOH, if Kyrie had stayed two years, been NPOY two years, and then graduated in 2020, he might have been eligible. From my perspective, the criteria are simple: it should be really obvious.

[DU82]

Wasn't Dick Groat's baseball number retired at the same time as his basketball one?

[CrazyNotCrazie]

I don't know why I remembered this, but Duke has retired a number for its math team

http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/1994/05/12/keohane-retires-number-all-star-mathematics

My assumption is that the Athletic Hall of Fame is the equivalent of having your number retired for non-basketball players. They do a good job of honoring athletes across all sports.

[Dukehky]

My understanding is that fans have read the tea leaves and compiled a guess as to the criteria for retirement, but I don't think it's as simple as NPOY. Elton Brand, for example, was NPOY but left after two years. K has said national recognition, but that meaning is vague. Graduation is probably required, which would explain Brand vs Jason Williams, who graduated after three. And I'd imagine if someone graduated, was NPOY, but was --to K-- a jerk, the banner wouldn't go up. OTOH, if Kyrie had stayed two years, been NPOY two years, and then graduated in 2020, he might have been eligible. From my perspective, the criteria are simple: it should be really obvious.

Graduation is an absolute requirement for getting your jersey retired in Cameron as a basketball player. If Elton Brand comes back and graduates, 42 goes in the rafters. K used to talk about that at Duke basketball camp all the time. It's some major national recognition and graduation.

[blazindw]

Graduation is an absolute requirement for getting your jersey retired in Cameron as a basketball player. If Elton Brand comes back and graduates, 42 goes in the rafters. K used to talk about that at Duke basketball camp all the time. It's some major national recognition and graduation.

I feel like graduation is the only absolute requirement. You can get a national honor and that's not necessarily going to guarantee you're going to get your number retired. But, if you don't graduate, it's a guarantee you won't get your number retired.

[burnspbesq]

Coach Dano's Twitter account, which was shut down during the season, is active now. If you think the retirement of Matt and Ned's numbers should be made official and celebrated during the 2014 season, why not tweet him about it?

[johnb]

Graduation is an absolute requirement for getting your jersey retired in Cameron as a basketball player. If Elton Brand comes back and graduates, 42 goes in the rafters. K used to talk about that at Duke basketball camp all the time. It's some major national recognition and graduation.

There's still an inevitable gray zone. Brand was clearly the best player in college his sophomore year (or at least he was to fans who generally watched only Duke games), but--though he's a bright guy who appeared committed to his education--I haven't heard that he's taken classes since graduation. Shelden Williams was probably the second best player on his own team and nobody's NPOY, and he got his number retired. He did win the Defensive POY (three times, I think), but Wojo and Amaker also won NDPOY, and they (presumably) weren't close to getting their numbers retired. Lots of players were really excellent (eg, Scheyer and Singler, most recently), but they had to settle for a national championship. Interestingly, I wonder if Mason would have gotten a number retired if Kyrie had stayed a second year. While he wouldn't have won the NPOY (Kyrie probably would have), Irving tended to make Mason look like Superman. Consensus A-A and a possible NC would have made Mason a tempting choice (and, assuming Kyrie never would have stayed more than 2 years, there could have been an odd situation in which Plumlee hung in the rafter because of Kyrie, but Kyrie would need to complete another two years of classes)...

[94duke]

There's still an inevitable gray zone. Brand was clearly the best player in college his sophomore year (or at least he was to fans who generally watched only Duke games), but--though he's a bright guy who appeared committed to his education--I haven't heard that he's taken classes since graduation. Shelden Williams was probably the second best player on his own team and nobody's NPOY, and he got his number retired. He did win the Defensive POY (three times, I think), but Wojo and Amaker also won NDPOY, and they (presumably) weren't close to getting their numbers retired. Lots of players were really excellent (eg, Scheyer and Singler, most recently), but they had to settle for a national championship. Interestingly, I wonder if Mason would have gotten a number retired if Kyrie had stayed a second year. While he wouldn't have won the NPOY (Kyrie probably would have), Irving tended to make Mason look like Superman. Consensus A-A and a possible NC would have made Mason a tempting choice (and, assuming Kyrie never would have stayed more than 2 years, there could have been an odd situation in which Plumlee hung in the rafter because of Kyrie, but Kyrie would need to complete another two years of classes)...

Shelden. I think people forget that in addition to being a NDPOY (twice, I think), Shelden holds the Duke records for career rebounds, career blocks, and career blocks per game. He passed Gminski to get all of those. Shelden was a beast! Shelden IS an all-time great for Duke. He is often overlooked because of JJ, but Shelden definitely belongs in the rafters (IMO).

[matt1]

Let's say that Cutcliffe is able to take the football program to new levels. Ten years from now, we have a Heisman-winning quarterback who leads us to a national title. Do we retire his number?

Yes, I know it is unlikely, but go with it.

[awhom111]

DW Hoops has campaign to retire Chris Moreland's No. 24 (http://www.dwhoops.com/c_moreland.php) and Georgia Schweitzer's No. 23 (http://www.dwhoops.com/g_schweitzer.php). I am in agreement that these two have long been overlooked, particularly Moreland.

DWHoops also has one for Monique Currie:
http://www.dwhoops.com/Legacy/1102250-currie-retired-jersey.php


I don't know why I remembered this, but Duke has retired a number for its math team

http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/1994/05/12/keohane-retires-number-all-star-mathematics

My assumption is that the Athletic Hall of Fame is the equivalent of having your number retired for non-basketball players. They do a good job of honoring athletes across all sports.

The Hall of Fame is a far less exclusive club than retired jerseys. To me, it makes sense to have different levels of honor for different levels of accomplishment. I think the Hall of Fame also has a longer wait time for induction while jersey retirements can be done immediately or very quickly after a player's career is over.

[Jim3k]

The thing about Moreland is that her number's retirement would be consistent with, and parallel to, the retirement of Groat's number. Up to 1962, when Heyman left, Groat was Duke's greatest men's basketball player. His number 10, had been retired in 1952. On the distaff side, Moreland, like Groat, was Duke's greatest early women's player. True, those were lean years for the newly created women's team, but the years between Groat and Bubas's recruitment of Heyman were kinda lean, too.

Her jersey should go up.

We can discuss Currie and Dr. Beasley (Schweitzer), too. But Moreland seems to be a must.

Here's a good read from Jim Sumner (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=743830) about the early women's teams, including its founding in 1975, and its early players such as Moreland and Katie Meier.

[msdukie]

My understanding is that fans have read the tea leaves and compiled a guess as to the criteria for retirement, but I don't think it's as simple as NPOY. Elton Brand, for example, was NPOY but left after two years. K has said national recognition, but that meaning is vague. Graduation is probably required, which would explain Brand vs Jason Williams, who graduated after three. And I'd imagine if someone graduated, was NPOY, but was --to K-- a jerk, the banner wouldn't go up. OTOH, if Kyrie had stayed two years, been NPOY two years, and then graduated in 2020, he might have been eligible. From my perspective, the criteria are simple: it should be really obvious.

Graduation is the only official requirement. But if you graduate and are NPOY, you get your jersey retired. K pushed for Heyman to have his number retired, so....

[msdukie]

My bad, I thought I remembered seeing it at a game in 2011, but I guess I was mistaken.

On the topic of hanging jerseys at Koskinen, I think they should move all of the achievement banners to somewhere more visible, like the fence adjacent to the parking lot. The current boards that are on the field level are kind of ugly.

Remember when there were achievement plaques at Wallace Wade until the Alabama game?.... Add their disappearance to my pet peeve list too.

[msdukie]

Wasn't Dick Groat's baseball number retired at the same time as his basketball one?

No, just his basketball number. But it was retired at a baseball game and the original framing had a basketball photo and baseball photo around his basketball jersey. However, the baseball jersey was not retired.

[msdukie]

I also assume the Eddie Cameron "Dick Groat jersey retirement rule" is the reason we never retired jerseys in other sports. It's been 62 years...time for that to go.

Most schools retire numbers in all sports and yes, any NPOY who graduated is worthy of this honor, and members of the college hall of fame in that sport...in addition to other candidates.