[MattVelazquezSays]Marquette's Haanif Cheatham won't wear No. 24

[willie warrior]

Not old, never saw Thompson play and there's virtually no highlights of him. That doesn't mean I can't deduce his legendary status within MU ball. They retired his friggin number. That means no one wears it from now until the end of time. What the hell is there to debate?

George was THE MAN!

[Dr. Blackheart]

I think Wojo should give #3 or # 31 to five star recruits only. Four stars get other active NBA players.  Three stars get Legends jerseys.  Two stars get the JDaw treatment.  1 stars get the Niv special.  Similar concept as how the Clintons sold the White House bedrooms to donors, a'nia?

[manny31]

In another tread I was almost willing to defer to tradition but now not all. What I see is  a generational difference. For me  the number 23 is Jordan, #34 is Walter Payton, #3 Wade you get the idea. As far as #24 in an MU jersey, for some folks no matter how good a kid is he will never measure up to George. That is the good news and the bad news just gives us all something to chat about....

[GooooMarquette]

Then let him wear #3 as I respect Wade"s accomplishments as well.

Exactly!  #3, #24...they're just numbers.

[dgies9156]

Exactly!  #3, #24...they're just numbers.

No! At Marquette they mean something special. They're about honoring our past and our commitment to people who have done something special for our university.

Everybody knows 3 is Dwyane Wade, 31 is Bo, 15 is Butch and 24 is George. I don't want to diminish these people's accomplishments by having others wear their number.

It's like saying let's let someone else wear 15 for the Green Bay Packers, 34 for the Bears, 23 for the Bulls or 33 for the Bucks. It is absurd.

[jsglow]

You guys are still arguing?   

[Skatastrophy]

The University RETIRED his NUMBER what is so hard (old) about this?

The university retired his jersey. There's a reason that this page isn't called "retired numbers."

Remember to pick up a package of Ensure next time you're at the store.

Edit: I just checked and I have double the number of posts that you do, so I automatically win this argument. Board rules.

[The Lens]

The university retired his jersey. There's a reason that this page isn't called "retired numbers."

Remember to pick up a package of Ensure next time you're at the store.

Edit: I just checked and I have double the number of posts that you do, so I automatically win this argument. Board rules.

Um, I was in (baby) diapers for the retirement but it was for his number.  We've always retired numbers and apparently we unretire George's. 

[Dr. Blackheart]

The university retired his jersey. There's a reason that this page isn't called "retired numbers."

Remember to pick up a package of Ensure next time you're at the store.

Edit: I just checked and I have double the number of posts that you do, so I automatically win this argument. Board rules.

MU Athletics calls it "retired jersey numbers".  Btw, I prefer Jack with my Ensure.

http://www.gomarquette.com/blog/2011/07/marquette-quiz-game-retired-jersey-numbers.html

[The Equalizer]

Several questions.

First, is this just a George Thompson thing, or do the other players with retired numbers have a similar beef?  What if Cheatham wanted to wear Don Kojis 44?  Would this have been an issue?

Second, are all retired numbers/jerseys being treated the same?  What about recent players who's ceremony and press releases clearly stated that the jersey was being retired.  For example, in 2006 for Maurice Lucas, the press release clearly says his jersey is being retired--says nothing about the number:
http://www.gomarquette.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/021706aaa.html
Wade and Rivers would fall into this category as well.

Third, what if this had been Dean Meminger's number?  He's dead, so obviously he couldn't have objected. Or was this not Thompson but old-timer alums that would have raised a stink on his behalf?

Fourth, would MU be able to preempt future kerfuffles by issuing a general statement including the following points:

--There are a limited pool of numbers permitted by the NCAA
--There is an increasingly worthy pool of great players we want to recognize--including hopefully many players to come in future seasons.
--MU officials lacked the foresight forty+ years ago when they retired "numbers" rather than "jerseys"
--It is inherently unfair to the more recent honorees to limit them to having their "jersey" retired, while players from earlier era' have the "number" retired.
--Therefore, to clarify for any future situation that may occur, Marquette retires jerseys and not numbers.
--Because we were unclear for early honorees (Thomson, Kojis, Meminger, Lee, Apollo 11 were the only numbers retired before 1980), we will keep their numbers retired for 50 years after their last season at MU, at which point they will become eligible for incoming players to select.  So 44 is available now. 
--Apollo 11 will become available in 2019--the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.

[Skatastrophy]

Do you guys not remember this all happening 10-ish years ago?

http://www.scout.com/college/marquette/story/592205-the-george-thompson-controversy

Lazar went through the same saga and Crean answered the question back then. It's possible that University policy has changed since then, but:

Coach Crean later went on to define his view of Marquette's policy for retiring jerseys and numbers, saying, "In my opinion, we do what UCLA, North Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, and Oklahoma State do. When honoring players of past, we are taking the numbers out of the situation, we are honoring the individual. We do not take the number out of the equation but rather the jersey itself is what is retired."

[warriorchick]

[GGGG]

Do you guys not remember this all happening 10-ish years ago?

http://www.scout.com/college/marquette/story/592205-the-george-thompson-controversy

Lazar went through the same saga and Crean answered the question back then. It's possible that University policy has changed since then, but:

First, Coach Crean's view of Marquette's policy isn't relevant here.  Second, whether or not it is the number or jersey that has been retired, it is simply unfortunate that Marquette had to repeat this mistake with the same number just a few years later.  They knew the clusterf*ck that resulted the first time.

[4everwarriors]

Yo, this is not difficult to comprehend. Maybe some of y'all are confused seein' that Favre retired, then unretired and such, but, generally speakin', retired means retired, ai na?

[real chili 83]

And ai na means ai na.  Ai na. 

[The Lens]

Check any media guide pre 2006.  It will say jersey NUMBERS.  Crean started this whole fiasco as a way of saying F U to George.