Sonics rookie forward Nick Collison will earn
the ultimate honor for a college basketball
player Tuesday night, when his #4 uniform is
retired by Kansas University.
Collison’s jersey will
join those of KU’s greats.
Jeff Jacobsen/KUAC File |
Before being selected by the Sonics in the first
round of this June’s draft, Collison completed a
stellar-four year career for the Jayhawks. As a
senior last year, Collison averaged 18.5 points
and 10.0 rebounds per game as Kansas advanced to
the NCAA championship game. For his efforts,
Collison was named NABC Player of the Year,
consensus first-team All-American and Big 12
Player of the Year by the league’s the coaches.
"Individually, it's the top, sure," Collison
said of having his jersey retired. "Kansas has
such a great tradition and there's been so many
great players who've gone through there. They've
probably got a tradition as good or better than
any place in the country. For them to recognize
you, that's a huge honor."
Collison’s consensus selection to the
All-American team and his Player of the Year
honors qualified him to have his jersey retired
under Kansas’ merit system. The Jayhawks first
retired jerseys prior to the 1992-93 season,
when Clyde Lovellete, Danny Manning, B.H. Born,
Paul Endacott, Wilt Chamberlain and Charlie
Black were honored. At the time, jersey
retirement was limited to those named Player of
the Year, NCAA Tournament MVP, or four-time
All-Americans.
"They're all legends, not only Kansas
legends, but for college basketball period,
across the country," Collison commented on that
list of names. "It's just unbelievable when you
go to Kansas, the stories, the tradition. The
guy who invented the game coached there,
(Adolph) Rupp was there, Dean Smith was there,
Larry Brown was there, it's an unbelievable
tradition." Prior to last season, those
qualifications were amended to include consensus
first-team All-Americans, two-time first-team
All-Americans and Academic All-Americans of the
Year. Under the new system, Collison will join
the inaugural honorees and Ray Evans, honored in
1997, in having his jersey retired.
Collison’s jersey will be retired at halftime
of the Kansas-Michigan State game Tuesday, which
will be televised nationally by ESPN.
Collison is currently rehabbing his left
shoulder, which was surgically repaired Oct. 14.
Before traveling to the University of Kansas, he
is scheduled to head to New York Monday for an
appointment with Dr. Russell Warren, who
performed his shoulder surgery. At that time, a
date may be set for Dr. Warren to operate on
Collison's right shoulder.