Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Honored Jersey's from the 2009 Championship Team

So, as if you didn't already realize how special this team was, let's talk rafters. For a player to be eligible to have his jersey honored, he must:
1. Be MVP of a Championship team
2. Be first or second team all American
or
3. Be a member of a gold winning Olympic team.

Waynestorm Ellington (number 22) was named MOP of the Final Four, and Ty Lawson (number 5) was a second team all American. Frankly, I (along with Roy Williams) think that ACC Player of the Year honors should also make someone eligible to have his jersey retired. I'm not sure how many ACC POYs there have been who haven't been first or second team all American. I'm guessing not that many.
And, for a player to have his jersey retired, he must win one of the six National Player of the Year awards: Associated Press, National Association of Basketball Coaches, Sporting News, John R. Wooden Award, Oscar Robertson Trophy, or Naismith College Player of the Year. Obviously, this includes Hansbrough (number 50).
So 60% of the starting 5 of this team will be in the rafters. That's pretty amazing. Carolina currently has 43 jerseys honored/retired. Adding 3 to that number from one team is pretty incredible.
And FYI, there's already two number 22s in the rafters; York Larese, who played from 1958-61, had his jersey retired when he was named second team all American. The second is from Bob Lewis, who played from 1964-1967, a first team All American.

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