Earl Campbell. Roger Clemens. Ricky Williams. T.J. Ford.
These are the names of the only athletes in Longhorns history to have their jerseys retired.
Next year the Longhorns will add an accomplished group of athletes to the bunch—but I'm not sure all of them truly belong.
According to the Associated Press, Vince Young and Kevin Durant will have their jerseys retired, along with seven other former Longhorns athletes.
The biggest shock among the two headliners is Durant, who played just one season for the Longhorns. True, his accolades during that one season in college were surely impressive.
- Started all 35 games
- 25.8 points per game
- 11.1 rebounds per game
- Led Texas to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament
- National Association of Basketball Coaches Division I Player of the Year
- Oscar Robertson Trophy recipient (first ever freshman to win)
- Adolph F. Rupp Trophy recipient (first ever freshman to win)
- Naismith Award recipient (first ever freshman to win)
- John R. Wooden Award (first ever freshman to win)
On top of this impressive list of accomplishments, Durant was chosen with the second pick in the NBA draft by the Seattle Supersonics, who recently relocated to Oklahoma City.
But why would any school feel inclined to honor someone who graced its halls for one year? Even if he goes back to finish his degree, which he is apparently doing, he only played for one season. It's not like he led them to an NCAA title like Carmelo Anthony (another one and done college player) did for Syracuse in 2003.
My main contention with this whole thing is that Durant didn't really do anything for Texas. OK, so he helped guide them to the Sweet Sixteen. All of his other accolades were personal.
Even though he helped bring more notoriety to the school, he failed to do what Carmelo did (to date, Syracuse has not retired his jersey). I just don't see how one year of service warrants the equivalent to a lifetime achievement award.
Durant deserves to be honored for his outstanding performance in college—just maybe not in the way that Texas and other universities and teams choose to celebrate their tradition.
Notes
Campbell won the Heisman Trophy in 1977 and is enshrined in both the college and pro football Halls of Fame.
Clemens pitched two All-American seasons with the Longhorns baseball team and helped lead them to a national championship in 1983.
Ricky Williams won the 1998 Heisman Trophy and set many NCAA Division I-A records (some of which were later broken), including most yards in a career (broken one year later by Ron Dayne from the University of Wisconsin) and career rushing touchdowns and career scoring (both of which were broken one year later by Travis Prentice from Miami (OH) University).
T.J. Ford only stayed for two seasons with Texas' hoops team, but he led them to their first Final Four appearance since 1947 (and also the Sweet Sixteen) and won the Naismith and Wooden awards, along with being named player of the year by every major sports outlet. When he left Texas, Ford was the only basketball player to have his jersey retired.
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2 months ago
good read. I'm really surprised they would retire Durant's jersey. There's no reason whatsoever to do it now. If his success had led to better recruits and an championship shortly after he left that's one thing. But with him and Augustin gone, as great as he was, retiring his jersey is clearly unjustified.
At least Carmelo brought a ring to Syracuse.
2 months ago
David - my thoughts exactly. Durant's accomplishments are all personal and didn't really do much for the school. For a school to honor an athlete in such a manner it is my belief that said athlete must have done great things for the university over a period of time (greater than one year of service).
At the very least, why do it so soon after he left? As you said, there's no reason whatsoever to do it now.
Perhaps the only scenario I can think of where a one and done would deserve for his/her jersey to be retired is in the event of a death. A posthumous award would be completely acceptable and encouraged.
2 months ago
NO.
2 months ago
I agree with your article 100%. Good read.
2 months ago
No, this is so logical. He only played one year and what did they win? Not and NCAA Championship and I don't think they even won the Big 12 either.
IF Durant has his number retired then I hope Carmelo has his number retired at Syracuse because at least he won them an Nat Champ.
from 2 months ago
Michael, you're right. Texas finished third in the Big 12 during the regular season and finished second in the Big 12 Tournament.
2 months ago
Having a jersey number retired should normally require more than a one-year cameo and Sweet 16 trip; however, Durant won the AP Player of the Year award and, at some schools, this alone would merit retiring his number.
As for the national title talk, I'm a Carolina fan and we have several players with retired numbers who never won a championship (off the top of my head Phil Ford and Antawn Jamison spring to mind). I'm not sure it's entirely fair to base a player's number retirement on the basis of national titles--they're too elusive at the college level and the window for a player to win one is a maximum of four years.
My argument with retiring his number is that he was one-and-done.
from 2 months ago
Im not saying you have to win a championship to have your number retired. In Durant's case I was saying that he only played one year so I might be able to understand the move if he actually won something. Basically all he did was go to Texas and put up good stats and then go pro all in one year.
If a player plays 3 or 4 years with great production but never wins a championship then retiring his number is fine by me.
from 2 months ago
Michael, I'm sorry, my comments regarding a national title weren't directed at you; it had been a common topic in the comments thread.
At Carolina, for example, winning one of the six major college player of the year awards is grounds for retirement. I was just saying that Durant's Naismith and AP (there were others) might have qualified him.
I still would like to see a guy at a school for at least two years. It's an individual honor for and individual player and Durant, and subsequently Texas, was the talk of college basketball for one year.
Again, I don't necessarily agree with the decision, I can just see Texas' side of it.
2 months ago
I think they said they are already going to retire Tyler hansbrough's number and he might leave the program with no National Championships.
from 2 months ago
Hansbrough won one of six national player of the year awards, is a three time All-American and is the school's second leading scorer. Which makes his case slightly different than Durant's who was great for one season and then left school.
As much as I hate Duke, I think there are some academic requirements (the player has to complete his degree program) that must be met.
2 months ago
Apparently NCAA President Myles Brand wants to eliminate one-and-done athletes: http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/59691
Personally, I don't think that certain sports should have eligibility requirements while others do not. Tennis, golf, gymnastics, etc. lack minimum age requirements or collegiate participation. It's quite the double standard.
I like the way that baseball does it.
The following rules are in place for MLB draft eligibility:
- High school players, if they have graduated from high school and have not yet attended college or junior college
- College players, from four-year colleges who have either completed their junior or senior years or are at least 21 years old
- Junior college players, regardless of how many years of school they have completed
That's a whole other debate, though, which I will likely get to eventually.
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