Long overdue;Bird's 33 to be retired TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Larry Bird's No. 33, already retired by the Boston Celtics, will be retired at Indiana State, where he led the Sycamores to the NCAA championship game 25 years ago. No one has worn that number at Indiana State since Bird left in 1979, but the university wants to make it official, athletic director Andi Myers said. Former player and coach Duane Klueh's No. 54 jersey also will be retired during a ceremony at halftime of Indiana State's home finale against Northern Iowa on Feb. 28. "This is long overdue in both their cases," Myers said. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=1709264
Wow. How could this not have been done earlier, like much earlier? I expected Bird's would have been put up in the mid 80's at the latest. Now here we are, 20 years later, and finally it has happened. The guy is on everyone's top ten ever list(or should be if he isn't), and its not like the Indiana State Sycamores pump out all americans regularly, to overlook this. Did the school just not retire jerseys before? I hope that was the case, and that these are the first jerseys retired by the school, or something is seriously wrong.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting starman85:</div><div class="quote_post">Wow. How could this not have been done earlier, like much earlier? I expected Bird's would have been put up in the mid 80's at the latest. Now here we are, 20 years later, and finally it has happened. </div> Bird didn't play four years at Indiana State. The same thing happened to Magic Johnson who wasn't retired untill recently by Michigan State. Some schools just take longer than others. Some schools like to raise their player's jerseys as soon as they leave, like Kansas, while others never raise their player's jerseys, like Holy Cross. The jersey I am keeping an eye on right now is Carmello Anthony's. Does anyone think it'll be raised into the Syracuse rafters? How about Duane Klueh? Does anyone remember him? <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"This is long overdue in both their cases," Myers said.</div> Does anyone know how big of an impact he had? All I know is that he was named to the Helms All-American first team in '48.
hmmm thats a tough call on the Anthony one... I dont think it'll happen, only cuz he played just one year...altho he did lead em to a ring as a freshman, I just think Syracuse has too much history to hang it up...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting HoustonHoopa33:</div><div class="quote_post">hmmm thats a tough call on the Anthony one... I dont think it'll happen, only cuz he played just one year...altho he did lead em to a ring as a freshman</div> That's the point I was trying to make about Indiana State and Larry Bird. How could they raise his jersey so soon if he was just there for a few years? If Bird got injured his rookie year and never played a game for any NBA team, do you think his jersey would ever be retired at Indiana State?
Larry Bird's number 33 will finally be retired at Indiana State <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Larry Bird's No. 33, already retired by the Boston Celtics, will be retired at Indiana State, where he led the Sycamores to the NCAA championship game 25 years ago. No one has worn that number at Indiana State since Bird left in 1979, but the university wants to make it official, athletic director Andi Myers said. Former player and coach Duane Klueh's No. 54 jersey also will be retired during a ceremony at halftime of Indiana State's home finale against Northern Iowa on Feb. 28. "This is long overdue in both their cases," Myers said. Bird, now the Indiana Pacers president of basketball operations, was an All-American and college player of the year in 1979, when he led his team to the nation's No. 1 ranking. The Sycamores were undefeated until they lost the NCAA tournament championship game to Michigan State. Bird played 13 years with the Celtics and is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. </div> More here: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=1709264
Finally, this has been a longtime due. Should've been done during his NBA days. Congratulations Larry!
it will take place, i live in indiana and have heard it all over the radio and news. I still can't believe it has taken this long. it's way over due to have the number retired.
