Question about retired numbers

[zyvex789]

I should probably know this, but...

The recent brouhaha about Roy's number not retired, got me thinking.

If I recall correctly, #10 was retired in 1991 or thereabouts and has been used since then by (off the top of my head, may be missing some) Kevin Smith, Monte Glasper (11?) and now Mike Gesell. Does B.J. give his permission for his number to be used? Is that how it works?

I don't recall any #12, #21, #22, #33, #40 or #41 used in recent memory. But I'm getting old and my memory is fading...

 

[83Hawk]

His jersey was retired, not the number. When a number is retired it can't be used by anyone else....when a jersey is retired it is an honor for that particular player, but the number can still be used.

 

[zyvex789]

I see, thanks for the explanation.

And now that I think about it more, Glasper was 13. And I got his first name wrong. I fail as a Hawkeye historian.

This post was edited on 3/10 2:33 PM by zyvex789

 

[Lumas Etima]

Originally posted by 83Hawk:
His jersey was retired, not the number. When a number is retired it can't be used by anyone else....when a jersey is retired it is an honor for that particular player, but the number can still be used.

I understand that this is the official line.

But I still always found it odd that not a single Iowa player wore No. 10 from the day it was retired until Mike Gesell took it when he arrived on campus. The only exception is Kevin Smith, who was wearing No. 10 at the time it was retired/honored, but I guess he was allowed to keep it. (I remember reading a story at the time about Smith asking if he needed to switch jerseys at halftime of the game when Armstrong was honored.)

Doesn't it seem odd that not a single player wore No. 10 for more than 20 years, if it was the "jersey" and not the "number" that was retired?

It is but further evidence that the athletic department doesn't know what the hell it is doing when it comes such honors.

 

[OC_Hawk]

Originally posted by Lumas Etima:

Doesn't it seem odd that not a single player wore No. 10 for more than 20 years, if it was the "jersey" and not the "number" that was retired?

I set out to prove you wrong. I could not. Last #10 I could find before Gessell was Kevin Smith in 1992-1993.

Edit:
TANGENT!!!
Maybe that photo is not 1992-1993.
This one is dated 1987-1988:

Pretty sure Acie couldn't have been on the team for 87-88 / 88-89 / 89-90 / 90-91 / 91-92 & 92-93 seasons. His name wasn't Jess Settles!
This post was edited on 3/10 4:56 PM by OC_Hawk

 

[Lumas Etima]

Originally posted by OC_Hawk:

Originally posted by Lumas Etima:

Doesn't it seem odd that not a single player wore No. 10 for more than 20 years, if it was the "jersey" and not the "number" that was retired?

I set out to prove you wrong. I could not. Last #10 I could find before Gessell was Kevin Smith in 1992-1993.

Edit:
TANGENT!!!
Maybe that photo is not 1992-1993.
This one is dated 1987-1988:

Pretty sure Acie couldn't have been on the team for 87-88 / 88-89 / 89-90 / 90-91 / 91-92 & 92-93 seasons. His name wasn't Jess Settles!
This post was edited on 3/10 4:56 PM by OC_Hawk

I think that second photo has to be 88-89, the senior year for Armstrong, Marble and Horton. Acie Earl was a true freshman, but redshirted that season (confirmed here: http://www.hawkeyesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/acie_earl_302824.html). That would make Earl a fifth-year senior in 92-93, when the first photo was taken.

That means it was only 19 years since an Iowa player wore No. 10, not "more than 20," as I previously wrote. That said, my questions about the jersey vs. number retirement remain valid.

 

[83Hawk]

Originally posted by Lumas Etima:

Originally posted by 83Hawk:
His jersey was retired, not the number. When a number is retired it can't be used by anyone else....when a jersey is retired it is an honor for that particular player, but the number can still be used.

I understand that this is the official line.

But I still always found it odd that not a single Iowa player wore No. 10 from the day it was retired until Mike Gesell took it when he arrived on campus. The only exception is Kevin Smith, who was wearing No. 10 at the time it was retired/honored, but I guess he was allowed to keep it. (I remember reading a story at the time about Smith asking if he needed to switch jerseys at halftime of the game when Armstrong was honored.)

Doesn't it seem odd that not a single player wore No. 10 for more than 20 years, if it was the "jersey" and not the "number" that was retired?

It is but further evidence that the athletic department doesn't know what the hell it is doing when it comes such honors.

Not necessarily. It may be a coincidence, or it may be that Iowa had an "unofficial" policy not to give out #10.

BJ's number was not, and is not, "retired". Having a jersey retired is not the same as having a number retired, as I pointed out. To say this (#10) is evidence the University doesn't know what it is doing with regards to number/jersey retirement is not a correct observation.