To my knowledge, all of the jerseys in the rafters now are retired numbers.
If/when Ejim, Niang, Monte get the call, would those numbers be retired? Or just "honored"?
#3 and #11 obviously have been back in circulation. No one has had #31 since Georges.
I'm embarrassed that no one in the student section didn't have a blow-up picture of this.
In the era of NIL, it feels really awkward to exclude arguably the greatest player in program history because he was good enough to go pro early.
What the hell kind criteria is only the best player on his team his final year?The only year that Ejim was the best player on his own team was his senior year. And even that was debatable even though he won big 12 player of the year, a lot of people thought Kane was better that year. It was close.
It’s not an insult to say that yes he’s one of the all-time greats at Iowa State, but no, he’s most definitely not worthy of rafters.
I'm embarrassed that no one in the student section didn't have a blow-up picture of this.
ISU has a pretty exclusive club of Conference Players of the Year. Thompson, Abdul-Aziz, Fizer, Tinsley and Ejim.Hanging someone's jersey should be exclusive.
He’s also not 6’10”. Seems pretty clear cut to me.What the hell kind criteria is only the best player on his team his final year?
I like looking at honors, particularly that those outside the program provide. There's a ton of bias for things like the era.UNC has two standards.
"Retired" jerseys must...
AP NPOTY, Naismith NPOTY, Wooden Award, Sporting News NPOTY, Oscar Robertson Trophy
You essentially need to win national player of the year from a reputable source. Iowa State doesn't have anybody like that. But they do have a standard for "honored" jerseys...
Member of gold medal Olympic team
MVP (as voted by his teammates) of a national title team
First/second-team all-American
ACC POTY
NCAA tournament MVP
By that standard the list of guys in the rafters should be...
Waldo Wegner (second-team AA)
Gary Thompson (second-team AA, Big Eight POTY)
Zaid Abdul-Aziz (Big Eight POTY)
Jeff Grayer (second-team AA)
Marcus Fizer (first-team AA, Big 12 POTY)
Jamaal Tinsley (second-team AA, Big 12 POTY)
Melvin Ejim (second-team AA, B12 POTY)
Georges Niang (second-team AA)
Current jerseys in the rafter who would not qualify...
Jeff Hornacek (HM AA)
Fred Hoiberg (HM AA)
Barry Stevens (HM AA)
Neither would Monté Morris (third-team AA)
Couple other HM guys not otherwise mentioned...
Jack Flemming (third-team AA)
Dean Uthoff (HM AA)
Andrew Parker (HM AA)
Dedric Willoughby (HM AA)
Curtis Stinson (HM AA)
Craig Brackins (HM AA)
Royce White (HM AA)
DeAndre Kane (third-team AA)
The only year that Ejim was the best player on his own team was his senior year. And even that was debatable even though he won big 12 player of the year, a lot of people thought Kane was better that year. It was close.
It’s not an insult to say that yes he’s one of the all-time greats at Iowa State, but no, he’s most definitely not worthy of rafters.
Right? That's why UNC only has 52 of them up there.Hanging someone's jersey should be exclusive.
My vote is all the jerseys up there are just the jersey retired. I’m not sure anyone has enough to retire a number. You can also do a hall of fame type wall that is a third level.Sig talking about UNC having "retired" vs "honored" got me thinking.
What if you had a lower standard for "honored" players, and instead of putting the jerseys up in the rafters, displayed them around the concourse? There's isn't much decor on those walls.
That's were you could put guys like Niang, Tinsley, Homan, Stinson, etc. You'd need some kind of criteria I suppose, or if there's too many, you do a couple decades per year and rotate it.
I know.......i know this happens for all of us in our various stages of life.....but does seem like yesterday watching his last regular season game hoping his PPG would get him the Player of the Year award.Melvin has been done playing at ISU for 10 years? Wow