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UCLA Basketball: Should UCLA Retire Don MacLean’s Jersey? – An Investigation

By Jake Liker

Dec 10, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Pac-12 Networks broadcaster and analyst Don MacLean (left) interviews UCLA Bruins guard Norman Powell (4) after the game against the UC Riverside Highlanders at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA defeated UC Riverside 77-66. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 10, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Pac-12 Networks broadcaster and analyst Don MacLean (left) interviews UCLA Bruins guard Norman Powell (4) after the game against the UC Riverside Highlanders at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA defeated UC Riverside 77-66. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 12, 2014; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Detail view of the Pac-12 Wilson basketball on top of the Pac-12 logo court decal during the first half between the Stanford Cardinal and the Washington State Cougars in the first round of the Pac-12 Conference Tournament at MGM Grand Garden Arena. The Cardinal defeated the Cougars 74-63. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 12, 2014; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Detail view of the Pac-12 Wilson basketball on top of the Pac-12 logo court decal during the first half between the Stanford Cardinal and the Washington State Cougars in the first round of the Pac-12 Conference Tournament at MGM Grand Garden Arena. The Cardinal defeated the Cougars 74-63. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

The Conference Standard

The second standard takes into account that MacLean isn’t just the all-time leading scorer for his team, but his entire conference. It’s a record that has stood the test of time–this season will mark the 25th consecutive year in which MacLean is the all time leading scorer in Pac-10/Pac-12 history.

I wanted to find out if being the all-time leading scorer of a conference for a quarter century calls for a jersey retirement, so I did some painstaking research on every single person who holds that distinction to this day, and has done so since at least 1992. Below is a list from Wikipedia of the 17 players who qualify under this standard.

Mull over this list for a bit. I poured over newspaper articles, press releases, Wikipedia pages, and media guides. I found the West Coast Conference and the East Coast Conference, looked at big-name schools like LSU and lesser-known ones like Wagner, and spent more time than I care to admit trying to find the Delaware State Hornets Hall of Fame.

The American South Conference lasted about as long as the actual American South did in the Civil War (4 years). At least Brooks’ omission from the rafters is understandable.

Despite the wide-ranging variety of this diverse bunch, I discovered that practically every single person on that list had their jersey retired. Every. Single. One.

The only exception other than Don MacLean was Kevin Brooks.  Kevin Brooks holds the record for a conference that no longer exists playing for Southwestern Louisiana, which is no longer called Southwestern Louisiana (shoutout to the Ragin’ Cajuns of Louisana-Lafayette). The American South Conference lasted about as long as the actual American South did in the Civil War (4 years). At least Brooks’ omission from the rafters is understandable.

Verdict: MacLean gets his jersey retired 15 times out of 17* (*16 if you disregard the American South Conference).

Side note – I didn’t manually list and source every single player on this list like I did for the blueblood standard because it would have taken too long. If you’d like me to show you the receipts or think it’d be funny to make me dive into the abyss of my search history, hit me up on Twitter and I’ll send you the list of sources.)

Next: The Professional Standard