Texas is going to retire nine jersey numbers
Long overdue.
Football: Bobby Layne, Tommy Nobis and Vince Young
Baseball: Burt Hooten, Greg Swindell (who were both better college pitchers than Roger Clemens), Brooks Kieschnick and Scott Bryant
Basketball: Slater Martin and Kevin Durant
Each sport will have individual ceremonies throughout the year to honor the retirees.
Someone should pour a Falstaff on the ground at Layne’s.
July 18, 2008 at 10:11 am
I love KD and he’s obviously the best player we’ve ever had, but I just don’t think he deserves his jersey retired after one fuckin season.
July 18, 2008 at 10:21 am
I can understand that point of view, but Durant won the college basketball equivalent of the Heisman. We may not ever again have a great player who stays more than 2 years because of the way the college game has changed.
July 18, 2008 at 10:56 am
Retired jersey means you excelled at a 99.99 percentile level on the court, brought extraordinary athletic success and/or recognition to The University, and represented The University in a first class way while doing it. Durant did these things and deserves it.
July 18, 2008 at 11:42 am
Finally, an end to the annual tiresome “who is going to be the next LB to wear #60″ speculation.
It’s a crime Nobis isn’t in the NFL Hall of Fame.
July 18, 2008 at 11:46 am
Unfortunately, Vince does not have a good bye week. I am guessing they would do it during the FAU game, but he will be preparing for week 1. It be nice to have it done for the MU game, but it would not be good for the Titans.
And I no issues with any of these guys getting them retired. All exremely deserving. I still don’t know why it took so long for Martin, Nobis and Layne.
July 18, 2008 at 11:49 am
Mixed feelings on the whole retired jersey thing.
Love, love though that Bobby Layne was included.
And at least for baseball it will somewhat repair Gus’s mistake of allowing Clemens to buy his jersey.
July 18, 2008 at 1:02 pm
We just had some dissent about Durant’s jersey being retire over at BON, as well. I just think that if the NBA’s eligibility rules were like football’s, we would have retired Durant’s number when he left without a second thought, whether he hated it here or loved it, and whether he wished the whole time that he could be in the NBA instead. I don’t think that an easy top-two draft pick really should consider coming back for another season ever, and I don’t think you can nix his jersey being retired because of that either. “Sorry, son, you made the right decision, so we’re not going to honor you like we would have if you were a complete fool and gambled $65 million against one extra year of eating at Jester.” Does not compute.
July 18, 2008 at 2:20 pm
When is Vince getting a statue? I think a statue is long overdue.
July 18, 2008 at 4:02 pm
I think that’s a mistake in the press release. No. 60 is being retired in honor of Brian Jones.
July 20, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Why Durant but no TJ Ford?
July 20, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Ford’s number has already been retired.
July 20, 2008 at 5:53 pm
A great list. Only slight is not including Cat Osterman. Yea, yea, I know this is the men’s athletic department making the announcement, but Cat is more than deserving. Except for Vince, no person has brought more prestige sports wise to the 40 acres in the past 25 years.
And more than any other Longhorn I can remember, male or female - Cat dominated her position for 4 seasons. And throw in she left the university for a year in the middle of it all to help her country win a gold medal.
July 21, 2008 at 9:58 am
What, none of your Heisman Trophy winners?
Oh, I’m sorry … did I step in something?
July 21, 2008 at 10:03 am
Their jerseys were already retired (Earl’s #20 and Ricky’s #34).
July 21, 2008 at 11:45 am
Johhny fuckin’ Moore, before Martin or Durant or TJ, for that matter.
Is that too much to ask?
July 21, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Yes. Johnny Moore was awesome, but he couldn’t hold KD’s jock. We’re tallking orders of magnitude.
July 21, 2008 at 12:23 pm
I like the Johnny Moore suggestion, but in reality it probably doesn’t pass the test. If Johnny, then why not Jim Krivacs, Ron Baxter and/or LaSalle Thompson? Or Larry Robinson?
July 21, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Keith Moreland needs to be next.
July 21, 2008 at 3:10 pm
What about James Street. Nobody beat him. Ever.
July 21, 2008 at 5:52 pm
“I like the Johnny Moore suggestion, but in reality it probably doesn’t pass the test. If Johnny, then why not Jim Krivacs, Ron Baxter and/or LaSalle Thompson? Or Larry Robinson?”
I’ll take Moore first in that group. He was a 4-year letterman who started every game all four years.
He set the SWC (and school) record for assists in a game with 19 — twice. He was a true point guard who could defend as well as score.
He was at his best in the big games — having great performances in two wins over Nationally Ranked Arkansas, one at the Erwin Center and one at Fayetteville. He obviously was key part of the 1978-79 NIT championship when it actually meant something.
Plus as a pro, he was our first real bona fide NBA player since Slater Martin. He is still the San Antonio Spurs all-time assist leader.
He averaged 9.4 points 7.4 assists and 3.0 rebounds a game in his career. He was better in all catagories in the play offs. He averaged 11.4 points, 8.4 assists and 3.2 rebounds in the play offs for the Spurs.
His assist to turnover ratio in the regular season was 3.6 to 1, and in the playoffs it was 4.6 to 1.
Plus he had the best damn 70’s Afro on campus.
July 22, 2008 at 6:44 am
Thanks, srr. Folks get caught up in a player’s dominance, highlights, and eye-popping stats. Johnny Moore put the program on the map (temporarily, at least) and his consistency was his hallmark. Also led us to our first title of any kind beyond the SWC. Brought honor to the school and the program, then took his consistency and court smarts to the Spurs where he was the court general for many years. He was an iron man is the best sense of the word. Hell the Spurs retired his number and he didn’t put up gaudy stats there, either.
July 22, 2008 at 6:47 am
And he pissed off Eddie Sutton enough that Eddie lost his mind and came after him. That’s worth something, right?
July 22, 2008 at 8:27 am
“And he pissed off Eddie Sutton enough that Eddie lost his mind and came after him. That’s worth something, right?”
My favorite Sutton/Lemons story involves Johnny Moore.
Sutton had a favorite tactic that he used againt teams that liked to push the ballup the floor. After an Arkansas score he would plant one of his big men (Scott Hastings was especially good at this) in the forecourt. He would try to draw a charge from one of opposition players who might be looking for a pass.
In a big game here is Austin, Moore did it back to Arkansas in return. He drew the charge right in front of Sutton, who jumped up and actually put his hands on Moore.
Abe went ballastic. He had to be restrained by Asst. Coach Barry Dowd from walking down court and punching Eddie’s lights out.
Afterward at his press conference, before anyone could ask a question Abe announced:
“I just want to say that Eddie Sutton is a chickenshit. You can quote me and in case you can’t spell it, it is
C H I C K E N S H I T”
It was greatness.
July 22, 2008 at 9:29 am
That’s the incident I was talking about. I was only like 8 years old but I remember asking my dad “what did Johnny do?”
Fuck you, Eddie.