So we now know that Erick Green was named 3rd team All-American yesterday. That was the first time a Hokie has been named to an actual All-American team (not honorable mention) since Dell Curry in 1986.
The conversation has been had about whether or not he deserves to have a picture up there with Bristow, Curry, Coles and Custis.
Many say that he is third in line behind Zabian Dowdell and Malcolm Delaney but let's just look at the case for Green:
10th leading scorer in Tech history (but behind both Delaney (3rd) and Dowdell (8th) )
9th leading assist leader (but also both behind Delaney (2nd) and Dowdell (6th) )
2012-2013 ACC POY- never done by either Dowdell or Delaney
2 x All-ACC (1 1st team, 1 2nd team)-Dowdell had 1 1st team, Delaney had 3 (one each, 1st, 2nd, 3rd teams)
2012-2013 National Scoring Title (25 ppg)
2012-2013 3rd team All-American
Now while that is impressive, the biggest criticism is that it would only be rewarding one good year, as opposed to a career. My counter in two parts:
1. It was an AMAZING year. Incredible. It was arguably the best individual season in Tech history, and made a terrible team one of the better tickets and TV watchable teams in the ACC just to see how many he would score.
2. It's pretty amazing that he ended up in the top-10 in scoring anyway, considering he did it on 200 less shots than Delaney, basically half a year. His career averages are also either comparable or better than Dowdell's.
I understand people's reservations, but I think it would be a travesty if Green's number isn't up there within the next five years.
Thoughts?
Comments
I think it would be cool to see Delaney and Green both have their jerseys retired at the same time.
The rule is that in order for their jersey to be retired, they must receive a nationally recognized award. The question becomes whether 3rd team AA is enough. I definitely think he has had a remarkable season while others had better careers. It's hard to say whether he will be up there though.
Is that a real rule? I've heard that, but I've never seen where the university has actually said that. And if it is the case, Ace Custis was never an All-American, and didn't win a national award (he was a finalist, but never won).
It was a rule that was made in 2002
Text found at bottom of page:
http://www.hokiesports.com/football/jerseys/vick.html
But is that only for football? That's what I gathered from that little blurb.
I would say that is across the board but since then, only 2 jerseys that I can remember have been retired. Corey Moore and Angela Tincher. Tincher's number was actually retired and this was post-2002 so I don't know how the rule relates to other sports.
It's for all sports:
http://www.hokiesports.com/retired/
I don't think Delaney's should be retired, but Dowdell and Green definitely should. While I like Delaney while he was here, he wasn't an all-around great player. Never had a great FG%, just always seemed to get to the line. Just my opinion.
I've always thought that it should go Dowdell > Green > Delaney. However, I'm not sure any of the three deserve it. My biggest gripe with Delaney was him never making it to the Dance, so that would knock Green as well. Just not sure any of the three did enough. If Green wouldn't have started his career so slowly (or Delaney not have been around to steal minutes) it may have been different for him.
Think you hit the nail on the head. Green may have got the accolades to get him up there but if you say no to delaney because of only nit appearances then you'd have to say the same for green. While green definitely had a season for the record books, he didn't have a career for the rafters.
Well said
It would be a travesty to look up in the Cassell and not see #11 up there with the rest of the greats. Ignore the crappy season. What the man did this year was incredible. Give the ACC POY what he deserves.
I was at VT for all of Green's years and half of Delaney's and I agree with the people who think neither should be up there. If Green had played for almost any other acc team he would have transferred after freshman year to some smaller college because he wouldn't have gotten any playing time( I will give him credit for his improvement but his freshman year omg). And Delaney for being arguably the best player we have had in recent memory didn't help us win anything.
Do I think Green's jersey should be out in the rafters? No. As much as I would love it, he only did what he did for one year.
Do I think we need to create some sort of Hall of Fame wall that is for those better than most but not part of the elites? Absolutely.
While I would love to see Green up there, I'm not sure I see it happening. All of the previous jersey retirees, with the exception of Coles (I'll get to him...), led Tech to some sort of postseason 'glory'. Bristow led the team that won the '73 NIT (his jersey was retired 25 years later which leads me to wonder if his NBA and coaching career somewhat helped). Curry went to the NIT twice and NCAA tournament twice. Custis won an NIT and went to an NCAA tournament. Coles, while not getting to a postseason tournament, did win a gold medal with the US Olympic team while at Tech and finished his career tops in scoring and assists on the Tech all-time list.
I can't help but feel like people just want another jersey in the rafters because we haven't had a new one in 15 years. They want this generation's Dell Curry or Bimbo Coles to be up there. Don't get me wrong, I'm one of these people. I want to be able to look back in 20 years and tell my kids I got to see Dowdell or Delaney or Green play in-person when they ask me about the pictures in the rafters. I just don't think it's gonna happen.
Hell yes, retire his jersey. And Malcolm's too. We just plain need more stuff hanging on the wall.
If he had this type of season at Duke or UNC, would they retire his jersey? No. His jersey would be "honored" at UNC, but not retired.
I don't understand why people want more jersey's in the rafters. This is a huge honor, and only a select few should deserve it.
How about we get some teams that take get us some NCAA tourney appearances banners on a consistent basis, and then lets talk about retiring some jerseys from those teams.
1. We aren't UNC or Duke, nor do we have their pedigree. That's an irrelevant argument.
2. Erick Green deserves his jersey in the rafters because he had one of the best seasons not just in school history but in ACC history. He was one of the most efficient guards to play in the ACC ever. Feel free to look that up. So yea, I'd say he deserves his jersey to be retired. The "well we should make the NCAA tournament more" thing gets old after awhile. Obviously we all want more tournament appearances, but just because a player wasn't on a tournament team doesn't mean we should overlook his greatness.
Don't understand why a program's pedigree has anything to do with retiring a jersey. They set the standard pretty high, and we should too.
Green had one great year, and a decent career. Don't believe a jersey should be retired for one year's performance.
Initially, I wasn't a fan of retiring Green's number, but he was BOTH ACC player of the year AND third team All-American by the AP (a REAL All-American honor, IMHO). Those two, combined with his very respectable career stats, not to mention the NATION'S leading scorer, have me agreeing with Brian here.