Why hasn't Trey Burke's number been honored?
Pretty fair question to ask.
The guy is our only Naismith winner, is doing very well in the NBA and oh by the way delivered our first B1G Championship in 26 years and first Final Four in 20 years.
Michigan has 5 number banners in Crisler. Only one number is actually retired: Cazzie Russell's #33.
Cazzie's was retired on December 11, 1993-
In 2003, it seemed a program was started to honor a number every year.
Rudy T's #45 on February 8, 2003-
Phil Hubbard's #35 on January 11, 2004-
Glen Rice's #41 on February 20, 2005-
Bill Buntin's #22 on January 7, 2006. Buntin tragically suffered a fatal heart attack in 1968 at age 26, just three years after he graduated.
Why not re-start this tradition and honor the greats we've had from the 90s and later? If anyone deserves it, Trey Burke is first in line.
I don't believe MSU has done anything to honor Magic Johnson.
But he is the only two year player, couple of 3 year guys like Jay Vincent and Greg Kelser also honored but a bulk of them were 4 years and graduates.
Can't put up Josh Moore without Avery Queen right next to him. I'll even allow the banners being the same size and everything.
Gosh, I remember thinking Leland Anderson was the truth. That lasted about five minutes.
Trey Burke was a very good player on a two very good teams, but I think the measure for celebrating an inidividual requires a transcendent career. That should include both team performance and individual accomplishments.
This is Trey's legacy at Michigan:
2011-12
Team record: 24-10 (13-5 tied for 1st) - Lost in first round
Trey stats: 14.8 pts/3.5 rebs/4.6 assists
Next best player stats: (Hardaway) 14.6 pts/3.8 rebs/2.1 assists
2012-2013
Team record: 31-8 (12-6 4th place) - National Runner-Up*****************************
Trey stats: 18.6 pts/3.2 rebs/6.7 assists
Next best player stats: (Hardaway) 14.5 pts/4.7 rebs/2.4 assists (Stauskas and Robinson both averaged 11.0 pts)
Trey was great, and he certainly left his mark (will anyone ever forget the shot against Kansas?), but I don't see the performance of a vistuoso in those results and numbers.
Here are a couple reference points:
1) Glen Rice during the championship year (which featured 5 future NBA players on the team) 25.6 pts/6.3 rebs/2.3 assists (He also still holds the all time record for points in a tournmament)
2) Glenn Robinson 1994 Purdue: 30.3 pts/10.1 rebs/1.9 assists - Team results: 29-5 (14-4 1st), Elite 8
3) Kevin Durant 2006 Texas: 25.8 pts/11.1 rebs/1.3 assists - Team results: 25-10 (12-4 3rd), Second round
4) JJ Redick 2005 Duke: 26.8 pts/2.0 rebs/2.6 assists - Team results: 32-4 (14-2 1st), Sweet 16
don't jump off the page, but the 2012-2013 Big Ten Conference was the most loaded it's ever been talent wise.
Burke played 2 games against Indiana: Oladipo and Yogi Ferrell backcourt, both NBA players
2 games against Keith Appling, Gary Harris, and Denzel Valentine. All three played in the NBA, Valentine and Harris were first round picks.
2 games against 2x Big Ten DPoy and 4x All Big Ten defensive team member Aaron Craft:
1 Game against peak Slow it the fuck down Wisconsin.
He also torched the ever living shit out of numerous NBA first round draft picks in the tourney, and hit absurd shots. Trey did what needed to be done to win, and that meant running the offense at a high level and taking over when it needed to happen. He absolutely could've blown by everyone to the tune of 30 points a game, but that wouldn't help the team win.
it was mentioned "maybe after he graduates." Cazzie didn't graduate either. Many thought it was the biggest reason why, after Fish, he didn't get the call. He also would have won the Naismith, had it been awarded prior to 69, being named POY in 66.
Just wanted to clarify those two things and believe when the time is right he'll be honored. I will say, though, Cazzie is the only UM athlete in my lifetime - now 65 - who compelled me to turn the radio on. Not many games televised back then. I did watch that damn lefthander, Goodrich from UCLA scorch us though.
Are you sure Cazzie never graduated? He did coach at the college level (Savannah College of Art and Design). I think he just was never high enough on the coaching ladder to be a candidate for our job (he'd coached one year at SCAD, a D-II school, when Fisher was fired).
Because he couldn't carry the jockstraps of those whose numbers are retired. Geeze he had one very good year.
I don't think Charles Woodson gets mad about much of anything, dude seems like he's always in a good mood. He also didn't even get honored by that silly legacy jersey nonsense Brandon came up with, I don't think it is a topic that he is thinking about too much.
*were
There is no way you could have been Woodson. Subjunctivize that shit.
The best grammatical comment ever.
I'm totally fine with them retiring Burke's 3, but only if they also raise a banner for Katelynn Flaherty. She wore the same number and has the most points in school history. Would be really cool if they retired the number program-wide for both players.
trey was a great, great player, clearly (imho) on the level of the five previously-retired numbers.
but - he only stayed two years. two spectacular years, but bill james used to write about the baseball hall of fame on two levels - peak value, and overall career value. tim lincecum had a super-high peak. so did dwight gooden. but they're not getting in the hall because their overall careers just weren't big enough.
to me, same with trey. his peak was extraordinarily high, but the breadth just wasn't wide enough. it goes double (again, imho) for colleges...we all buy into the semi-charade that they're "normal" students...it's part of why we root for them, after all. i don't think it's too much to ask that the all-time greats that get recognized by the actual university be there for the full four-year haul like "normal" students. if he wants to come back and graduate, we can talk.
Trey is at the top, but behind Rickey Green....
I saw Campy Russell at the mall the other day and said Go Blue. He walked over, asked my name, shook my hand, couldn't have been a nicer guy.