UCLA Bruins men's basketball retired numbers

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The men's college basketball program of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) was founded in 1920 and is known competitively as the UCLA Bruins. The Bruins have won 11 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I national championships, the most of any school.[1] UCLA players have been assigned jersey numbers ranging from 0 to 78 in the team's history.[2] The school no longer issues nine retired numbers in honor of 10 former players. To qualify, a player must have been a three-time consensus All-American, a consensus national player of the year, or been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The retired numbers are displayed in the rafters of the Bruins' home arena, Pauley Pavilion.[3] UCLA's legendary coach John Wooden generally opposed having numbers retired.

History

Lew Alcindor (blue), now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, against the USC Trojans in the 1966–67 season.

Numbers retired by UCLA were originally limited to three-time consensus All-Americans.[4] In 1990, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, known as Lew Alcindor during his UCLA career, and Bill Walton were the first to have their numbers retired.[5] The ceremony was held in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of Pauley Pavilion.[a][6][7] Wooden valued team play over individual accolades, and he opposed retiring numbers.[4][8] "What about the fellows who wore that number before?" Wooden asked. "Didn't they contribute to the team?"[8] Wooden did think highly of Abdul-Jabbar and Walton. "If such a thing can be deserved, it'd be Alcindor and Walton. But I don't think it would be anyone else," said Wooden.[9]

UCLA in 1996 expanded the requirements for retiring numbers to include players who were consensus national players of the year.[4] This allowed the jersey numbers of Walt Hazzard (No. 42), Sidney Wicks (35), Marques Johnson (54), and Ed O'Bannon (31) to be retired.[9] In 2004, UCLA also allowed players inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame to be eligible, enabling the retirement of Gail Goodrich's No. 25.[4][10] Three Bruins were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012, and UCLA retired their numbers in 2013—Jamaal Wilkes (52), Reggie Miller (31), and Don Barksdale (11).[11] It was the second time No. 31 was retired, O'Bannon's being the first.[12]

Eight of the players honored were members of NCAA championship teams,[13][14] and seven of the players were coached by Wooden.[15] Although Hazzard's No. 42 was retired, he allowed Kevin Love (2007–2008) to wear it.[2][16][17][18] Johnson's retired No. 54 was worn by his sons, Kris (1994–1998) and Josiah (2001–2005).[2][19]

In 2014, UCLA announced that No. 42 would be retired across all the university's sports in honor of Jackie Robinson, a four-sport star at UCLA who went on to a Hall of Fame career in Major League Baseball after breaking the baseball color line. While Robinson wore several different numbers while at the school from 1939 to 1941, UCLA chose to honor the iconic No. 42 that he wore during his career with the Brooklyn Dodgers.[20] The announcement had no impact on the men's basketball program, since the number was already retired for Hazzard, who had requested No. 42 as his college number to follow in the footsteps of Robinson, his childhood idol.[21] Robinson also played basketball for the Bruins, but he wore No. 18.[22]

Retired numbers

Gail Goodrich (right) with John Wooden in 1965
Walt Hazzard in 1964
Bill Walton
Key
No. Retired number
Player Name of player honored
Career Years played with UCLA
NCAA Number of times member of NCAA championship team
AA Number of times named consensus All-American
POY Number of years named national player of the year
Retired Year number was retired
*
Member of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame


UCLA Bruins men's basketball retired numbers
No. Player Career NCAA AA POY Retired Ref
11
Don Barksdale 1946–1947 0 0 0 2013 [23][24]
25
Gail Goodrich 1962–1965 2 1 1[i] 2004 [24][26]
31
Ed O'Bannon 1991–1995 1 1 1 1996 [24][27]
Reggie Miller 1983–1987 0 0 0 2013 [24][28]
32
Bill Walton 1971–1974 2 3 3 1990 [29][24][30]
33
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar[ii] 1966–1969 3 3 3 1990 [24][30][29]
35
Sidney Wicks 1968–1971 3 2 2 1996 [24][27]
42
Walt Hazzard 1961–1964 1 1 1 1996 [24][27]
52
Jamaal Wilkes[iii] 1971–1974 2 2 0 2013 [24][31]
54
Marques Johnson 1973–1977 1 1 1 1996 [24][27]
  1. ^ Goodrich won the since-defunct Helms Foundation Player of the Year,[25] but he was not honored until UCLA allowed Hall of Fame inductees to have their numbers retired.[4]
  2. ^ Known as Lew Alcindor during his college career
  3. ^ Known as Keith Wilkes during his college career

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The ceremony also retired the numbers of UCLA women's players Denise Curry (12) and Ann Meyers (15).[6]

References

  1. ^ "Top 10 Colleges to Produce NBA Pros". RealClearSports. June 21, 2011. Archived from the original on March 23, 2012.
  2. ^ a b c "2011–12 UCLA Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). UCLA Athletic Department. 2011. pp. 116–118. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 20, 2022.
  3. ^ Hartman, Steve; Smith, Matt "Money" (2009). The Great Book of Los Angeles Sports Lists. Running Press. p. 203. ISBN 978-0786748877. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d e Pucin, Diane (December 18, 2004). "The Guttiest Little Bruin". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 6, 2022.
  5. ^ "UCLA Set to Retire Numbers of Jabbar, Walton, Meyers, Curry". Los Angeles Times. January 23, 1990. Archived from the original on January 28, 2015.
  6. ^ a b "UCLA Set to Retire Numbers of Jabbar, Walton, Meyers, Curry". Los Angeles Times. January 23, 1990. Archived from the original on January 28, 2015.
  7. ^ Bonk, Thomas (February 3, 1990). "No Ordinary Retirement Home". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 23, 2012.
  8. ^ a b Schudel, Matt (June 4, 2010). "Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, winner of 10 national titles, dies at 99". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 28, 2015.
  9. ^ a b Kawakami, Tim (February 1, 1996). "Irish Find Little Luck in First Big East Season". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 23, 2012.
  10. ^ Dohn, Brian (December 18, 2004). "GOODRICH'S PLACE CEMENTED FORMER BRUINS STAR'S NO. 25 JERSEY FINALLY WILL BE RETIRED". Daily News (Los Angeles). Archived from the original on March 28, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2012.(subscription required)
  11. ^ "Wilkes, Miller head Hall of Fame class". FoxSports.com. Associated Press. April 2, 2012. Archived from the original on May 9, 2021.
  12. ^ "USC Uses Overtime To Upset UCLA 75-71 On Reggie Miller Night". CBSNews.com. AP. January 30, 2013. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  13. ^ Raley, Dan (January 21, 2009). "Plenty of space available at Hec Ed". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
  14. ^ Condotta, Bob (January 21, 2009). "Husky Men's Basketball Blog". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on May 23, 2012.
  15. ^ Raley, Dan (January 20, 2009). "Pac-10 Notebook: Huskies to hang Roy's No. 3 with the best". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Archived from the original on March 2, 2012.
  16. ^ Smith, Shelley (November 18, 2011). "Walt Hazzard lived for others". ESPNLosAngeles.com. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015.
  17. ^ Painter, Jill (March 28, 2006). "UCLA BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK: WOODEN WON'T MAKE TRIP TO INDIANAPOLIS". Daily News (Los Angeles). Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2012.(subscription required)
  18. ^ Hoffarth, Tom (October 14, 2007). "THE NUMBERS GAME FROM 00 TO 99, WHICH PLAYER WOULD YOU CHOOSE FOR THE ALL-TIME SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ROSTER? NO.32 IS LIKELY TO BE HOTTEST DEBATE". Daily News (Los Angeles). Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved May 23, 2012.(subscription required)
  19. ^ Sondheimer, Eric (November 1, 2000). "Johnson Has Game to Go With His Name at UCLA". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 23, 2012.
  20. ^ "UCLA Honors Jackie Robinson by Retiring #42 Across All Sports" (Press release). UCLA Athletics. November 22, 2014. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  21. ^ "Hazzard 'Returns' To Bruins Having His Jersey Retired Heals Wounds For Ex-Star". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. February 3, 1996. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  22. ^ Martinez, Phillip (April 15, 2021). "Jackie Robinson Day: 4 Facts About His Jersey No. 42, Now Retired in MLB". Newsweek. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  23. ^ Wang, Jack (February 6, 2013). "UCLA to retire Don Barksdale's No. 11 jersey Thursday night in halftime ceremony". Daily News. Los Angeles. Archived from the original on February 14, 2013.
  24. ^ a b c d e f g h i j UCLA Athletic Department, p.111.
  25. ^ "Helms Foundation Player of the Year Winners". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2010. Archived from the original on July 6, 2014. Retrieved December 7, 2010.
  26. ^ "UCLA 81, Michigan 79". ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 18, 2004. Archived from the original on January 25, 2022.
  27. ^ a b c d "Mixed emotions greet Hazzard at ceremony". The Victoria Advocate. Associated Press. February 3, 1996. p. 3B. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
  28. ^ Wang, Jack; Wolf, Scott (January 30, 2013). "Reggie Miller sees Bruins retire his No. 31 jersey". Daily News. Los Angeles. Archived from the original on January 28, 2015.
  29. ^ a b THE SIDELINES : UCLA Set to Retire Numbers of Jabbar, Walton, Meyers, Curry on Los Angeles Times, 23 Jan 1990
  30. ^ a b "Basketball: Barkley, Thomas fined". Sun Journal (Lewiston). Associated Press. January 24, 1990. p. 30. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  31. ^ Kartje, Ryan (January 16, 2013). "Jamaal Wilkes' No. 52 jersey to be retired at Thursday's game". Orange County Register. Archived from the original on January 19, 2013.