Freshmen Jersey Numbers Will Be A Bit Different This Year
As three players take advantage of the new jersey number rules
When you walk into Cameron Indoor Stadium, you see a lot of banners in the rafters, including 13 retired jerseys:
- #4, JJ Redick
- #10, Dick Groat
- #11, Bobby Hurley
- #22, Jason Williams
- #23, Shelden Williams
- #24, Johnny Dawkins
- #25, Art Heyman
- #31, Shane Battier
- #32, Christian Laettner
- #33, Grant Hill
- #35, Danny Ferry
- #43, Mike Gminski
- #44, Jeff Mullins
That means that, under the old rules, only these numbers were available:
0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 30, 34, 40, 41, 42, 45, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55.
That might seem like a lot, but no one really wants to wear 13 and how often do you see 40? And the 50’s have always sort of been ignored. Billy King took double nickels but otherwise, the 50’s have always been sort of the walk-on numbers. Ralph Sampson and David Robinson took 50, but really, not many people take 50’s.
So realistically that leaves 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 12, 14, 15, 20, 21, 30, 34, 41, 42 and 45.
It was enough of an issue that Marvin Bagley asked Ferry’s permission to wear 35 and Mark Mitchell got Heyman’s 25 (we’re not sure exactly how that happened).
We were kind of wondering if Cooper Flagg might have asked Laettner for #32 but that won't happen.
The NCAA changed the rules last season and you are no longer limited to jerseys with numbers, single or paired, between 0-5. Now every number between 0-99 is available (there is no law against 69, but most coaches aren’t going to allow that for obvious reasons. Tom Izzo’s son, Stephen, tried to be the first but his dad wisely shot that down. The watch continues).
The incoming freshmen have picked their numbers and they’re taking advantage of the new possibilities. Here’s the list.
- Flagg - #2
- Isaiah Evans - #3
- Kon Knueppel - #7
- Darren Harris - #8
- Khaman Maluach - #9
- Patrick Ngongba - #21
We didn’t think to list 00 as a jersey number, but that’s a seriously cool number too. A team can have 0 or 00, but not both. Lance Blanks wore 00 at Virginia before transferring to Texas and of course Robert Parish wore it for the Boston Celtics. It’s way cooler than, say, 40.