Rafferty in the rafters !

[dinhead]

Retire his number and hang it from the rafters !

Hard to believe it's been nearly 40 years since a number has been retired but that streak should surely end when Rafferty's number is placed alongside all those other Furman greats.

He's one of the greatest players and competitors to have ever worn the purple. His contributions to the program have been enormous and he's certainly worthy of the greatest honor that can be bestowed on a Furman University player.

[apaladin]

Agreed, I have no problem with his jersey being retired.

[DungeonRealm]

A true team leader

And better numbers than Larry Bird

[Flagman]

I’m pretty sure there’s a process for this.

[fufanatic]

I’m pretty sure there’s a process for this.

I'm sure there is too, but it would be nice to have some sort of insight into what that is. UNC is very open about it's process ... which I think is you have to win national player of the year. I'm guessing ours isn't as scientific or as elite, but it does seem we are much more strict than others in retiring numbers. Not saying it should be one a year or one every few years, but there are a ton of very worthy players in Furman football history and we only have three retired. Felton's isn't even retired for goodness sake! That's crazy to me. Or Ingle Martin. Rewrote the records book in two years, led team to two playoffs, including one semis. But seems kinda late in the game now that I'm sure 5-6 guys at least have worn that number. MR's should be retired before anyone else wear's it for Furman hoops. He shouldn't have to be an All-American or SoCon Player of the Year to be recognized for his role in transforming this program, especially the last two years and even more especially, this year. You could probably argue that Croone and Sibley deserve plenty of credit too and at least to be in the conversation, but MR's ability to really do it all this year was so impressive. Six jerseys retired in men's hoops. Looks like the last were that group of guys from the 70s. I was a huge fan of Karim Souchu in the early 2000s and always thought he deserved consideration. If you look at the top 7 point scorers in Furman history, four of the seven are retired - Selvy, Moore, Floyd and Jerry Smith. No dice on Souchu, Croone or Sibley.

[gman]

FWIW, here is UNC’s process. https://keepingitheel.com/basketball/retired-jerseys-2/

[FUBeAR]

FWIW, here is UNC’s process. https://keepingitheel.com/basketball/retired-jerseys-2/

Certainly a lot more effort put into defining that process than in developing the syllabi for the African American Studies "paper classes" 'taught' in Chapel Hole.

[The Jackal]

FWIW, here is UNC’s process. https://keepingitheel.com/basketball/retired-jerseys-2/

It was explained to me that UNC has a lot of retired jerseys, but few retired numbers.

They sort of phrase it differently, but that's the general idea.

Furman shouldn't bother with "honored' jerseys. If they hang your jersey in the rafters, that number should be retired.

[Paul C]

I’m not as much a fan of retiring his jersey as I am of a plaque recognizing the contribution these last 2 classes mass to changing the culture of Furman basketball. And when I say a plaque, I mean a big bronze SOB that has the images of all of them and is about 5 feet by 3 feet.

[fufanatic]

I’m not as much a fan of retiring his jersey as I am of a plaque recognizing the contribution these last 2 classes mass to changing the culture of Furman basketball. And when I say a plaque, I mean a big bronze SOB that has the images of all of them and is about 5 feet by 3 feet.

I'm fine with that too. I just don't understand why we are so stingy with numbers being retired. So many program-changing players in football and men's basketball and we have a combined 8-9 retired numbers in what like 250 combined years of playing the sports?