Her jersey does not deserve to be retired according to our own rules. She is one hell of a player, but she did not make the cut according the rules. I am only commenting on the rules, not her accomplishments or worthiness. If you have rules, they should be followed or it becomes political. When we retired Vick's jersey some people were upset, but VT was able to point to clear rules that stated he qualified based on his playing accomplishments. We decided to throw the rules out with Kitley and I don't understand it.
Athletic department rules -
In 2002, the Virginia Tech athletics department developed a new policy on retiring jerseys. This special honor is bestowed to acknowledge an individual who has won an established national award in their sport, while allowing the number to continue to be worn by others. Tech will no longer retire numbers.
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Still doesn't qualify according to the rules. She was named to a team. She did not win an individual award. I didn't make the rules. I do appreciate when they are followed as this is a slippery slope. Then again, I don't think getting your jersey retired in college will be as big of a deal as it used to be since you can play at 4 different schools in 4 years.
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All American teams are based on position. Sporting News named two guards, two forwards, and a center (Kitley). That means a major national publication named her the best in the nation at her position, not just "she's one of the five best players."
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I just don't buy this. She's a three time ACC player of the year. If that's the slippery slope that we're on, where 3x conference POTY award winners sneak in under the bar, I'm cool with it.
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Then again, I don't think getting your jersey retired in college will be as big of a deal as it used to be since you can play at 4 different schools in 4 years.
Wouldn't this make it less common and a bigger deal?
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Jimmy Williams was an AP all american- the real "all american award" before there were 15 of them. His number hasn't been "honored" yet in Lane. So screw the stupid rules that Jim Weaver made up - BTW.
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All I'll say is that we probably shouldn't use 2002 rules that were likely written with football mostly in mind at the time to dictate what qualifies for some of our other sports. Kitley is likely the 3rd or 4th most consequential athlete in school history, I could care less if she got snubbed by National awards made up of writers and voters who hardly pay attention to our program. If kitley doesn't deserve this honor we might as well take down the banner honoring Vick in Lane too.
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Also she played at the same time as arguably the best women's player ever. So I don't think snubbed is correct. Either way the criteria is incorrect for retiring jersey because Kitley deserves it.
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And part of the reason she didn't get additional national awards was because she was injured, and couldn't participate in what would have almost certainly been a national championship in women's basketball with her participation.
I hope this sets aside any additional naysaying.
She helped enshrine a new level of expectation for VT women's basketball, and deserves to have her jersey retired.
Signed,
A VT women's basketball fan
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Seconded, at least one of the national awards said they took her out of consideration because she got injured otherwise she would have won. Which is complete horse hockey pucks.
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Michael Vick
Bruce Smith
Dell Curry
Angela Tincher
Don Strock
and then I'm outta suggestions... Beamer is in the discussion but its not because of his football play, so if we're keeping this to achievements as an athlete then he probably shouldn't make the list.
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I can't argue with this list. It's what I would list. Where does Kitley go? Probably above Dell Curry- why? she played against the very best competition and was all ACC 3 times. Bimbo Coles was the school's first Olympian - 115 years after the school opened- so he should get some consideration as well.
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Hunter Carpenter, and for me he's top of the list.
Played 7 seasons for us at halfback. College Hall of Famer in 1957. Was never an All-American solely because Tech is too remote (especially in 1905) and Walter Camp never saw him play. Hated UVA to the point of obsession.
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Yeah, I think it's dumb we won't retire numbers anymore. I kinda get it for football because there are 85 guys and only 0-99 available for numbers. But for basketball? Nobody on the women's side should wear 33 again.
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Weird? Indeed, but I'm sure they're in touch daily anyway, so she can spare some time for VT, right? She deserves the honor, earned it fair and square with a lot of help from Brooks, but also from VT. She's gracious enough to know that. At this point, it would be weird if Brooks showed up.
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Just posted something similar to this in the WNBA draft thread, but, it's not lost on me that most of the girls posted something about Liz's selection when it happened, even Clara......but at the same time, Georgia posted a picture of Chloe Brooks with her birthday cake. 🤷🏻 I know I'm reading too much into useless social media drama, but I still found that curious. 🤔 She's gotta know what's going on, and you figure she would have been one to post about it - of all people.
UPDATE: ...she finally did. Still sucks to see how many coaches were there for their players, with no Kenny in sight.
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Chloe posted a long thread about how her mom is fighting cancer and that Kenny was with her during. Apparently only a couple days warning, couldn't rearrange things. Partially linked.
Players get invited to the draft a couple days before and he already had obligations to his new school. As soon as he was done with that obligation he drove 5 hours so he could spend time with my mom who is struggling with the effects of her chemo treatment. He doesn't use social— chloe brooks (@CloBug03) April 16, 2024
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If she had eligibility left, do you think she would have these accomplishments next year as well? Or do you think the other SEC players would out do her?
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Just pointing out the razors edge in the feelings of this debate. If one year of eligibility was left, she would definitely not be a Hokie for it, so would we still be singing her praises and having this debate? And/or do the better SEC players make her look more mediocre?
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1) She would be just as good in the SEC
2) I am torn to whether we should retire her jersey/number if she were to play next season at somewhere other than VT. She has her degree, she's a hokie, but I feel like retiring of numbers and jerseys are for players that retire collegiate sports as a hokie and should be based on their career as a hokie.
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Okay, yes, the true answer is we really don't know.
Let me put it this way; the Kentucky opening was this year, not last year and not next year. If not Kentucky then Tennessee opens a little later. Amoore had an optional year of eligibility left, did that keep him at VT? Nope. He took her with him, along with the #24 high school recruit, the #1 JUCO recruit and the #1 international recruit not to mention Strack who was the #94 recruit in her class but at 6'5" looks to be the second coming of Kitley. I highly doubt if Kitley had one more year of eligibility she and Brooks and Co. would be in maroon and orange, like 99.9% sure of it.
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you ever heard the saying "give the customer what they want until they stop wanting it?" As an engineer, it comes up a lot when the customer is asking for stupid things and you're actually in a position to know exactly why they're stupid.
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What if we get a player from the portal with only one year of eligibility left, and they win an individual national award. Do we retire their jersey/number?
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There is nothing there that says WE MUST retire any player with a National award. I am sure there are tons of Hokies, especially in T&F that won National awards that have not been "retired". Every situation is approached with context I expect. The context in this case is they decided the rule needed to not apply which is fully in their purview to decide. Laws change, policies change and in this case a rule was changed or an exception was decided on by Whit or someone else well compensated to make AD decisions because it made sense to them.
What if that transfer wins a National award while leading the first Hokies team to a team National Championship? Would their impact to Hokies sports be minimized because it was only for one year?
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I don't even really understand our jersey retirement policy. To my knowledge we only retire the jersey and not the number (I.e. VT football players can still wear 7 even though Vick's jersey is retired). So I don't know what the point of being overly restrictive is honestly - if we don't retire the actual number just have a ring of honor thing like Miami and induct notable players/have their name and number displayed around the stadium. That way we could let more deserving people in as well. Like Tyrod won a boatload of games and ACC titles at VT, his effect on the program was profound. But under our policy we won't 'retire' his jersey. I wouldn't mind a pennant hanging in lane that says Taylor 5.
Case in point - Miami's ring of honor recognizes conference awardees (All conference team or POTY type awards) and even success in the professional leagues. I mean it looks cool to come in as a recruit and see all these players' names and numbers who were big time college and NFL players. If we are so overly restrictive and only have a legit handful of people recognized it kind of looks like we don't have many good players lol. I think if you win a major conference award, national award, or have significant pro success you should be recognized at VT in your sport and your name/number displayed.
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Comments
Good.
An absolute GOAT. Happy to hear it!
Definitely the right thing to do. Not sure if they changed policy or skirted it but whatever, it really is a no brainer.
Well deserved and much congrats to Kitley.
It should be.
Good call
Her jersey does not deserve to be retired according to our own rules. She is one hell of a player, but she did not make the cut according the rules. I am only commenting on the rules, not her accomplishments or worthiness. If you have rules, they should be followed or it becomes political. When we retired Vick's jersey some people were upset, but VT was able to point to clear rules that stated he qualified based on his playing accomplishments. We decided to throw the rules out with Kitley and I don't understand it.
Athletic department rules -
She was a sporting news first team all American. Given everything else she's been named, I'm willing to count it.
Still doesn't qualify according to the rules. She was named to a team. She did not win an individual award. I didn't make the rules. I do appreciate when they are followed as this is a slippery slope. Then again, I don't think getting your jersey retired in college will be as big of a deal as it used to be since you can play at 4 different schools in 4 years.
All American teams are based on position. Sporting News named two guards, two forwards, and a center (Kitley). That means a major national publication named her the best in the nation at her position, not just "she's one of the five best players."
I just don't buy this. She's a three time ACC player of the year. If that's the slippery slope that we're on, where 3x conference POTY award winners sneak in under the bar, I'm cool with it.
Wouldn't this make it less common and a bigger deal?
Jimmy Williams was an AP all american- the real "all american award" before there were 15 of them. His number hasn't been "honored" yet in Lane. So screw the stupid rules that Jim Weaver made up - BTW.
All I'll say is that we probably shouldn't use 2002 rules that were likely written with football mostly in mind at the time to dictate what qualifies for some of our other sports. Kitley is likely the 3rd or 4th most consequential athlete in school history, I could care less if she got snubbed by National awards made up of writers and voters who hardly pay attention to our program. If kitley doesn't deserve this honor we might as well take down the banner honoring Vick in Lane too.
Also she played at the same time as arguably the best women's player ever. So I don't think snubbed is correct. Either way the criteria is incorrect for retiring jersey because Kitley deserves it.
True.
And part of the reason she didn't get additional national awards was because she was injured, and couldn't participate in what would have almost certainly been a national championship in women's basketball with her participation.
I hope this sets aside any additional naysaying.
She helped enshrine a new level of expectation for VT women's basketball, and deserves to have her jersey retired.
Signed,
A VT women's basketball fan
Seconded, at least one of the national awards said they took her out of consideration because she got injured otherwise she would have won. Which is complete horse hockey pucks.
sub-thread time! Who are the others?
Michael Vick
Bruce Smith
Dell Curry
Angela Tincher
Don Strock
and then I'm outta suggestions... Beamer is in the discussion but its not because of his football play, so if we're keeping this to achievements as an athlete then he probably shouldn't make the list.
I can't argue with this list. It's what I would list. Where does Kitley go? Probably above Dell Curry- why? she played against the very best competition and was all ACC 3 times. Bimbo Coles was the school's first Olympian - 115 years after the school opened- so he should get some consideration as well.
Agree on Bimbo Coles.
Queen Harrison - 3 time Nat Champ
Spyridon Jullien - 4 time Nat Champ
Mekhi Lewis
Hunter Carpenter, and for me he's top of the list.
Played 7 seasons for us at halfback. College Hall of Famer in 1957. Was never an All-American solely because Tech is too remote (especially in 1905) and Walter Camp never saw him play. Hated UVA to the point of obsession.
Don't tell DC.
Yeah, he didn't even take a Covid year.
He got a doctorate in hating UVA before Spanish Flu.
6 to play 6 baby
Any relation to Hunter Cattoor? Given the years of eligibility there must be some family ties there.
Not her fault the rules suck. If the rules are preventing the right thing from happening, ignore or change them.
Yeah, I think it's dumb we won't retire numbers anymore. I kinda get it for football because there are 85 guys and only 0-99 available for numbers. But for basketball? Nobody on the women's side should wear 33 again.
Very much deserved!
Extremely well deserved
Going to be very weird to have this done and her coach won't be there
Weird? Indeed, but I'm sure they're in touch daily anyway, so she can spare some time for VT, right? She deserves the honor, earned it fair and square with a lot of help from Brooks, but also from VT. She's gracious enough to know that. At this point, it would be weird if Brooks showed up.
A little weird, maybe, but it's still a great honor and time to move forward.
Great time for the new coach to establish a relationship with our most prominent female basketball alumnus.
Is it weird that brooks wasn't at the draft? And neither was Georgia
Just posted something similar to this in the WNBA draft thread, but, it's not lost on me that most of the girls posted something about Liz's selection when it happened, even Clara......but at the same time, Georgia posted a picture of Chloe Brooks with her birthday cake. 🤷🏻 I know I'm reading too much into useless social media drama, but I still found that curious. 🤔 She's gotta know what's going on, and you figure she would have been one to post about it - of all people.
UPDATE: ...she finally did. Still sucks to see how many coaches were there for their players, with no Kenny in sight.
Well she's out of eligibility and can't come to UK so she's no longer a part of the family for Kenny
Chloe posted a long thread about how her mom is fighting cancer and that Kenny was with her during. Apparently only a couple days warning, couldn't rearrange things. Partially linked.
via GIPHY
If she had eligibility left, do you think she would have these accomplishments next year as well? Or do you think the other SEC players would out do her?
Unfortunately, this is where my head is at as well.
She doesn't. And played here for five years. Don't be that guy.
Just pointing out the razors edge in the feelings of this debate. If one year of eligibility was left, she would definitely not be a Hokie for it, so would we still be singing her praises and having this debate? And/or do the better SEC players make her look more mediocre?
1) She would be just as good in the SEC
2) I am torn to whether we should retire her jersey/number if she were to play next season at somewhere other than VT. She has her degree, she's a hokie, but I feel like retiring of numbers and jerseys are for players that retire collegiate sports as a hokie and should be based on their career as a hokie.
If one year of eligibility was left for kitley, maybe brooks doesnt leave
No, he goes and she goes with him
maybe 🥰
Okay, yes, the true answer is we really don't know.
Let me put it this way; the Kentucky opening was this year, not last year and not next year. If not Kentucky then Tennessee opens a little later. Amoore had an optional year of eligibility left, did that keep him at VT? Nope. He took her with him, along with the #24 high school recruit, the #1 JUCO recruit and the #1 international recruit not to mention Strack who was the #94 recruit in her class but at 6'5" looks to be the second coming of Kitley. I highly doubt if Kitley had one more year of eligibility she and Brooks and Co. would be in maroon and orange, like 99.9% sure of it.
If she had any eligibility left, she wouldn't be wearing orange and maroon next year.
Kenny built a family, but VT wasn't a part of it.
Yep welcome to college sports 2024- its what we all wanted /S
you ever heard the saying "give the customer what they want until they stop wanting it?" As an engineer, it comes up a lot when the customer is asking for stupid things and you're actually in a position to know exactly why they're stupid.
College football has absolutely arrived.
What if we get a player from the portal with only one year of eligibility left, and they win an individual national award. Do we retire their jersey/number?
There is nothing there that says WE MUST retire any player with a National award. I am sure there are tons of Hokies, especially in T&F that won National awards that have not been "retired". Every situation is approached with context I expect. The context in this case is they decided the rule needed to not apply which is fully in their purview to decide. Laws change, policies change and in this case a rule was changed or an exception was decided on by Whit or someone else well compensated to make AD decisions because it made sense to them.
What if that transfer wins a National award while leading the first Hokies team to a team National Championship? Would their impact to Hokies sports be minimized because it was only for one year?
I don't even really understand our jersey retirement policy. To my knowledge we only retire the jersey and not the number (I.e. VT football players can still wear 7 even though Vick's jersey is retired). So I don't know what the point of being overly restrictive is honestly - if we don't retire the actual number just have a ring of honor thing like Miami and induct notable players/have their name and number displayed around the stadium. That way we could let more deserving people in as well. Like Tyrod won a boatload of games and ACC titles at VT, his effect on the program was profound. But under our policy we won't 'retire' his jersey. I wouldn't mind a pennant hanging in lane that says Taylor 5.
Case in point - Miami's ring of honor recognizes conference awardees (All conference team or POTY type awards) and even success in the professional leagues. I mean it looks cool to come in as a recruit and see all these players' names and numbers who were big time college and NFL players. If we are so overly restrictive and only have a legit handful of people recognized it kind of looks like we don't have many good players lol. I think if you win a major conference award, national award, or have significant pro success you should be recognized at VT in your sport and your name/number displayed.