Number 34

[TallTitan34]

Now that Tony Smith has graduated I'd say that he is a pretty good canidate for having his jersey retired.  Which 34 do you think most deserves to be retired and why?

Note:  At least retiring the jersey of three people with the same number frees up the available numbers for the current players!

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

1. Smith
2. Diener

I honestly don't believe McIlvaine warrants having his jersey retired.

[MUCrew]

Speaking of retiring numbers...I don't know if this has been discussed already or not, but do you think it would be a good idea to have those numbers retired forever?  i.e. nobody else can wear that number?  I know George Thompson, a little while back, made some noise about Hayward wearing his number...almost rightfully so.  What do you think?

[TallTitan34]

1. Smith
2. Diener

I honestly don't believe McIlvaine warrants having his jersey retired.

Good point PRN.  I added that as an option.  My apoligies to the 10 people who have voted!

[bilsu]

Do team records matter?
Tony Smith
16-13 NIT
10-18
13-15
15-14 NIT
Total 54-60
Diener
26-7 NCAA
27-6 NCAA
19-12 NIT
19-12 NIT
Total 81-37
MacIllvanie
11-18
16-13
20-8  NCAA
24-9   NCAA
Total 71-48
In my mind it is hard to retire a jersey for a player whose teams have an overall losing record and never made the NCAA's

[TallTitan34]

I can't fault a player who didn't have help around him.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Do team records matter?
Tony Smith
16-13 NIT
10-18
13-15
15-14 NIT
Total 54-60
Diener
26-7 NCAA
27-6 NCAA
19-12 NIT
19-12 NIT
Total 81-37
MacIllvanie
11-18
16-13
20-8  NCAA
24-9   NCAA
Total 71-48
In my mind it is hard to retire a jersey for a player whose teams have an overall losing record and never made the NCAA's

McIlvaine was arguably the third best player on his own team.

[rocky_warrior]

Speaking of retiring numbers...I don't know if this has been discussed already or not, but do you think it would be a good idea to have those numbers retired forever?  i.e. nobody else can wear that number?  I know George Thompson, a little while back, made some noise about Hayward wearing his number...almost rightfully so.  What do you think?

Well, I know we've got new members since this was discussed, but it's also one of the most viewed threads on MUScoop.  Opinions vary greatly...
http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=296.0

[Nukem2]

Actually, the poll is wrong as to saying stop retiring numbers.  MU has stated for quite some time now that it retires jerseys(as is the case with most schools).  As such no numbers will be retired in the future. 

[Coobeys Oil Depot]

Tony Smith was an outstanding performer for Marquette and is right below the legend category in MU history but for me it's Travis Diener if #34 gets raised only once. The kid was unbelievable. I think being the all-time leading scorer in a program like Marquette's holds a lot of water and we all know the record would be his if not for a tackling dummy.

[TallTitan34]

Actually, the poll is wrong as to saying stop retiring numbers.  MU has stated for quite some time now that it retires jerseys(as is the case with most schools).  As such no numbers will be retired in the future. 

I changed it to jersey for you Nuke.

[Buzz Williams' Spillproof Chiclets Cup]

Travis for more or less taking the program on his back in the two years between the Wade years and the Big Three years. My favorite moment was it looked like he was nearly paralyzed after a player fell on him in Charlotte and like three days later came back to drop like 25 points on Depaul.

Diener.


Also, no retiring numbers permanently. Because in Basketball, due to the officials calling fouls, only a limited quantity of numbers are available.
0-1-2-3-4-5
10-11-12-13-14-15
20-21-22-23-24-25
30-31-32-33-34-35
40-41-42-43-44-45
50-51-52-53-54-55

Retire too many jerseys for good and you'll soon either be fresh out, have to unretire jerseys, or cling to past players achievements only on some sense of nostalgia about the players of old who played in "the good olde days".

[mosarsour]

Do team records matter?
Tony Smith
16-13 NIT
10-18
13-15
15-14 NIT
Total 54-60
Diener
26-7 NCAA
27-6 NCAA
19-12 NIT
19-12 NIT
Total 81-37
MacIllvanie
11-18
16-13
20-8  NCAA
24-9   NCAA
Total 71-48
In my mind it is hard to retire a jersey for a player whose teams have an overall losing record and never made the NCAA's

And Tony Smith had to carry those teams on his back. Travis had D Wade, Novak, Jackson, etc.  In my mind it's Tony Smith all the way.

[Chili]

I think to many people don't remember Tony on this board. He only scored 3 points less than Travis in 6 less games, Also Tony was an All American, something Travis never got.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

I think to many people don't remember Tony on this board. He only scored 3 points less than Travis in 6 less games, Also Tony was an All American, something Travis never got.

Both Travis and Tony are legends, but if I were choosing up teams, Tony Smith would be the choice. He was PHENOMENAL as a senior. Almost 24 a night!

[ecompt]

I remember he had an asbolutely unbelievable game in Madison. The Badgers did everything they could to stop him, but I think he still had around 40 points. Tough call. I loved Travis as a player.

[CTWarrior]

If you retire McIlvaine's number, you'd have to retire Key and Miller, who were his contemporaries and better players for their careers while at MU.  Diener and Smith probably deserve the honor.  It's tough to say, because I think a lot of guys who haven't been honored probably had better MU careers than someone like Doc Rivers. 

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Doc Rivers' number should not have been retired, but he had the best speech of the recent number retirees and he's probably been the single best representative of Marquette for many years.

[MU_4_Life]

To me a jersey should only be retired for a 'special' player.  Someone who has either a great career at MU or after MU.  Smith had one very good seaon, but lead his team to a 15-14 record.  Diener is more deserving than Smith in my opinion but I think we should stop retiring jersey's for a while, its gotten a little out of hand.

[mosarsour]

MU_4_Life have you ever even seen Tony Smith play when he was at MU? He was hands down the best player on the floor most nights.  If it were not for him, I'd hate to see what MU would have been during the mid 80's.  No disrespect to Travis Diener (who finds himself in the same predicament in Indiana that he had in Orlando). I loved watching Travis play. He had more heart than anyone on any MU roster in the last 30 years, but Tony Smith was a stud!

[ChicosBailBonds]

I went to school with Tony as did NY Warrior and some others.  The guy could flat out play ball and had to play out of position on some fairly poor teams with a poor coach.

If it wasn't for Smith, I think we might have won 15 games total in that era...already one of the worst eras every in our history.

The Wisconsin game where he scored 40+ was incredible.  He didn't that several times if I remember.  His senior year was incredible.

[tower912]

The best move I ever saw Tony Smith make was at the Rec center of all places, in a pick up game after the season with some Milwaukee Bucks.    Dunked over the Terry Cummings (IIRC) twice.   This was at the end of his Freshman year.   I knew then that he was the real deal.     Tony Smith took a team that would have won 5 games otherwise to the NIT.    Travis was a great player and a great competitor, I was and am a huge fan,  but no team that he was the leader of ever went further, though he had more talent around him. 

[mosarsour]

If it wasn't for Smith, I think we might have won 15 games total in that era...already one of the worst eras every in our history.

Ahhhh...Those Bob Dukiet years....ughhhh!

[MU_4_Life]

MU_4_Life have you ever even seen Tony Smith play when he was at MU? He was hands down the best player on the floor most nights.  If it were not for him, I'd hate to see what MU would have been during the mid 80's.  No disrespect to Travis Diener (who finds himself in the same predicament in Indiana that he had in Orlando). I loved watching Travis play. He had more heart than anyone on any MU roster in the last 30 years, but Tony Smith was a stud!

I was at MU at the same time as Tony Smith so I did see him play many times.  Im not saying he wasnt a good or even great player.  I just dont think he deserves to have his jersey retired.  I dont even know if I would want to see Diener's jersey retired, its still a little to soon for me.  I guess my point is that I think MU should be a little more selective about jersey retirements than they have gotten lately.

[77ncaachamps]

All three...and have them all honored at the same time.

Diener was the heart and soul of three of his MU teams.

Smith, though on horrible teams, was the shining star for the program and went on to have a somewhat productive NBA career. Other than Doc Rivers, he was the only MU player in the League during the 90s. But he was joined by...

McIlvaine who also had a spotty NBA career but was a stalwart in the middle. He didn't dominate the blocks like Damon did, but I think he altered game plans nightly for the teams that MU faced in during his career.

All three hold top spots in the MU record books and have been MU's ambassadors in the NBA.

All are worthy in their own right.