Should Burke's Jersey be hung up?
I have been thinking about this, if Burke leaves after this year.. Does he still get his jersey retired? I mean Wooden Award winner the only player at Michian to do so. Big Ten player of the year. 1st team All-American. I know people will say you need to stay atleast 3 years. I think he's earned it after this season no matter what happens in Hotlanta.Whats everyone else think?
This was brought up a few months ago and most people said he needed to stay another year to be "elegiable" is the only reason I make that point
It's Latin for "eligible".
~Herm
it was discovered that most any player deserving of having his jersey hung in the rafters isn't likely to stay for 3 years.
It seems as though he should be "elegiable" only if we lose and he does leave early...
... that is, we'll be able to compose elegiac couplets lamenting his departure and recite them for cathartic effect.
/badhumanitiesjoke
The next week will have alot to do with whether his number is in the raptors. I personally think it should be as he represents this program moving to the next level.
I thought the dinosaurs were extinct? Didn't Jeff Goldblum kill them all, y'all?
~Rita
It's his saying, bitch! Keep your dirty hands off.
I'd be surprised if his number is in the Raptors. They probably won't even have a first round pick this year.
The one with the raptor, Hagerup and then one or two more? I seem to remember there being another absolutely hilarious one in the mix, but can't remember who did the contest.
These were the two best though.
It wasn't nearly as funny, but it was the runaway utility cart that I was thinking of. Still worthy of a laugh, though.
The Bowen's thing was an upset and shouldn't have even made it that far.
His number is more than welcome to hang out with me and my people.
Dude just had the wrong outdoor sport:
Photoshop his face in there, the one right after he hit "the shot", and you have won the interwebs for today.
I think the honor should only go to alumni. He's probably gone after this year, which means he won't graduate now, but there are still ways to finish the degree later.
By this logic, UNC shouldn't hang Michael Jordan's number because he left early for the NBA?
I tend to agree that jerseys should only be retired for players who graduate from that school at some point, even Michael Jordan. Collegiate sports are great, but they are still supposed to be a means to an end which is funding college education.
Michigan has prepared Burke for his dream job, a job with set of requirements other than a college degree. If the point of college is to better yourself and secure opportunities for the future, he and the school have done well by each other. A degree seems like an unnecesarily general standard of evaluating whether someone accomplished what they should have at college.
But we're a school, not just an NBA minor league program. The expectation is that our student-athletes will graduate - maybe not within four years, but eventually. Besides, a big part of the justification for collegiate athletics is that schools prepare them for "going pro in something other than sports," which even most ex-NBA players have to do at some point.
Most of these types of ceremonies aren't held until several years later. By the time Burke would come up in the discussion (there are others ahead of him - Gary Grant comes to mind), he'll have had several offseasons in a row in which he could have gone back and taken courses. For him to come back and finish up his coursework would remove all doubt that he's worthy of jersey retirement.
for NBA.
Besides, a big part of the justification for collegiate athletics is that schools prepare them for "going pro in something other than sports
That statement couldn't have been more false because college athletics is a business disguised as a non-profit entity. I hate this statement because playing college level prepares them for going pro like NFL, NBA, NHL, etc. I can assure you that the top players dont' think about education, they think about the best path to the professional sports league.
is the brand that they create
It's amazing how completely people misunderstand what a university education is supposed to be about. I wish we could get out of the credentialing business and back to teaching people who actually want an education.
All of that would make the change an unqualified success. Read Academically Adrift. (The assessments and much of the statistical analysis are lame but the general thrust of the book is correct.)
As universities are increasingly becoming expected to provide job training, the end result is going to be that universities provide only job training, and no education at all.
I don't know why wanting to better yourself and secure opportunities for the future is mutually exclusive with wanting an education, but if it is I'd be interested to see enrollment numbers after you get rid of all the people who misunderstand universities.
An annual salary's worth of tuition and stop acting like a big business buidling things, getting grants, researching, influencing politics, and all the other things that are more about $$$ than education and be more like a, you know, school, before people would come there just for that. No one is paying $100,000 over four years to become just a more rounded human being.
Michigan has prepared Burke for his dream job, a job with set of requirements other than a college degree. If the point of college is to better yourself and secure opportunities for the future, he and the school have done well by each other.
The average NBA career is only four years. The NBPA has estimated that 50% (!) of its ex-players become bankrupt within a few years of the end of their NBA careers. Most of these guys will, in fact, need to do something else professionally after their playing days are over.
I think a graduation requirement for jersey retirement is a good incentive for these guys to come back to school and finish their coursework. ("Finish your studies, and your jersey will go up.") They may not need the degree now, but may well later in life. Even if they find a career in basketball, they may need a degree - it's a requirement for virtually any college basketball coaching job, for instance.
Four years in the NBA makes you a millionaire, probably numerous times over. It's not the school's fault if you blow it and go bankrupt. If Burke carves out even a nice career, it just doesn't make sense for him to put in the amount of time required for a degree he'll never use.
New bb facilities, stadium renovations etc etc didn't occur because college sports--okay, football &basketball--are still a means to an end--if you mean a degree. Now if you mean, an income flow, that'd be a different story.
Jordan did graduate from UNC. He went back in the summer and finished his degree. I don't know if UNC raised his jersey before or after that, but I think it's a good policy. They are student-athletes, and if they graduate they're showing that they've performed in the classroom, too.
If our policy is that we don't raise the jersey of any non-graduate, then I don't think we should bend it for anyone. If Burke comes back and graduates, then certainly he'll be worthy of having his jersey in the rafters.
I'm sure there was little doubt that he would graduate, but the fact remains that he was honored before he had his degree.
And even the University recognizes this-
http://alumni.umich.edu/about/famous-alumni
Madonna dropped out of Michigan, but they still recognize her (I'm sure there are others on the list...that one just was just easy to remember).
If he cuts down the nets in hotlanta it goes 1. Charles Woodson 2. Trey Burke for anyone born in the late 80s/early 90s
~Rita
TOO SOON
.Why are people constantly saying TOO SOON?
The OP wasn't talking about retiring the jersey next year, in 5 years or even in 10. It was just a general question of if it is deserving of being retired with what Burke has accomplished thus far.
It's very simple, "yes," "no," or "yes if he does (insert criteria here)"
Not sure why everyone is saying TOO SOON like the OP was trying to plan a banner ceremony in a couple weeks.