Texas A&M to raise Acie Law's No. 1 to rafters

[kepdawg]

Texas A&M to raise Acie Law's No. 1 to rafters

03:04 PM CST on Tuesday, February 12, 2008

By BRIAN DAVIS / The Dallas Morning News
brdavis@dallasnews.com

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Texas A&M athletic department will take the highly unusual step of hanging Acie Law's No. 1 jersey in the rafters at Reed Arena during Saturday's game against Oklahoma State.

"Acie Law Day," as its being billed, gives the school a chance to honor the former point guard for his contributions over the last four seasons.

With a cold-blooded leadership mentality, Law led the Aggies to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament last season. The former Kimball standout won the Bob Cousy Award for being the nation's best point guard.

Law now holds an almost mythical place in A&M fandom and is widely considered one of the best men's basketball players in school history.

First-year coach Mark Turgeon, who never coached Law, said he conceived the idea to honor Law and "he was real excited." Law now plays for the Atlanta Hawks. With the NBA All-Star weekend coming up, Law's team would be idle.

"What that kid did for this program, especially last season, has made my job easier and tougher," Turgeon said. "He made it easier because I can recruit anywhere in the country. But also the expectations have changed for our program. He deserves his day.

"He came and got introduced at a football game, and that was a special moment," Turgeon added. "I think this will be an unbelievable five or six minutes for him in his lifetime."

The school is being careful not to call this a jersey retirement, however. A&M has historically not honored individual athletes by retiring their jerseys. John David Crow, A&M's only Heisman Trophy winner, doesn't have his jersey retired.

When asked how long Law's jersey will stay in the rafters, Turgeon said, "Forever."

A&M spokesman Colin Killian said the athletic department is considering forming a committee that would determine which athletes should be honored. Crow, Dat Nguyen, Lisa Branch (women's basketball) and Casey Fossum (baseball) are others who come to mind immediately.

Limited tickets remain: A&M officials announced that a limited number of tickets remain for Saturday's game against Oklahoma State. Tickets are $20 and can be ordered online at 12thmanfoundation.com or by calling 888-992-4443. Game time is 2:30 p.m.


LINK (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/021308dnspoaggieslede.b635ffb3.html)

[navscanmaster]

No doubting that Acie Law was a big part of bringing life back into the Aggie basketball program. Coach Barone always seemed to have good players, such as Bernard King, but never could put it all together. Without Acie, I really don't think they would have made it out of the first round the last few years, much less the Big-12 tourney.

[jimmyceatworld]

don't they usually wait awhile before doing something like this?

[lostaussie]

Acie Law is the reason A&M basketball is even a blip on the map. Since the day he came to town, expectations have went up. A&M basketball has been a joke ever since Coach Metcalf left. I think this is wonderful. My real hope is that 20 years from now, some wonder who he was, because of all the future stars he brought to town.

[g$$]

Originally posted by lostaussie
Acie Law is the reason A&M basketball is even a blip on the map. Since the day he came to town, expectations have went up. A&M basketball has been a joke ever since Coach Metcalf left. I think this is wonderful. My real hope is that 20 years from now, some wonder who he was, because of all the future stars he brought to town.

Exactly why A&M is doing this. Similar to what Texas did for TJ Ford. Acie's clutch play opened eyes across the country & opened doors in recruiting previously not available, just as Ford did too taking them to Final 4. 0-16 in conference Law's freshman year to 3 straight 20+ win seasons, nationally ranked & the Sweet 16 with a heartbreaking loss to Memphis. Now the sky is the limit.

[coach]

Originally posted by g$$
Exactly why A&M is doing this. Similar to what Texas did for TJ Ford. Acie's clutch play opened eyes across the country & opened doors in recruiting previously not available, just as Ford did too taking them to Final 4. 0-16 in conference Law's freshman year to 3 straight 20+ win seasons, nationally ranked & the Sweet 16 with a heartbreaking loss to Memphis. Now the sky is the limit.

dont forget the heartbreaking loss to lsu the year before

[lostaussie]

Originally posted by coach
dont forget the heartbreaking loss to lsu the year before phew.........i know i haven't!!!!!

[Panther One]

You have to give Gillispie some credit for turning around the program, too, but without Acie, A&M would not have had the success we've had the past few years. And even though Watkins was a bad coach, he did recruit Antoine Wright, Acie Law, and Joseph Jones. Those guys were the foundation of Gillispie's turn around effort.

[Rocket Dad]

Nice idea. Would be better to wait 5 years or so to see if he will be the adult that A&M wants as a "rafter hanger"

[kepdawg]

Originally posted by Rocket Dad
Nice idea. Would be better to wait 5 years or so to see if he will be the adult that A&M wants as a "rafter hanger"

I thought A&M would base it on his career as an Aggie.

[CHS_CG]

Originally posted by kepdawg
I thought A&M would base it on his career as an Aggie.

Thats what I thought could be wrong though

[Panther One]

Originally posted by Rocket Dad
Nice idea. Would be better to wait 5 years or so to see if he will be the adult that A&M wants as a "rafter hanger"
I'm trying to figure out if this comment is racist, prejudiced, or simply the result of a hatred for A&M. Care to explain what you mean by this?

[g$$]

Originally posted by coach
dont forget the heartbreaking loss to lsu the year before

Oh I have not! Kid hit a bomb 3-pointer & LSU eventually went to Final 4.

Acie Law is a good guy who will have a fine career in the NBA (playing more again after early injuries at Atlanta). His whole family moved out there too. No worries about him disrespecting the school. He deserves it just like TJ Ford did at Texas too. Slater Martin should be in the UT rafters as well (solid career at Texas/Final 4 I believe & Top 50 guy all-time).

[Rocket Dad]

I'm saying this : Give the young man a chance to move from a young man stage to a full adult stage. So many times people will honor a sports hero while he or she is 21, 22, 23 years old and get embarrased by some action of that person later. Let some water go under the bridge and be PATIENT with rafter hanging and retiring of jerzees etc.

[kepdawg]

Originally posted by Rocket Dad
I'm saying this : Give the young man a chance to move from a young man stage to a full adult stage. So many times people will honor a sports hero while he or she is 21, 22, 23 years old and get embarrased by some action of that person later. Let some water go under the bridge and be PATIENT with rafter hanging and retiring of jerzees etc.

So why not wait until the person is dead? As long as they are living they can do something to embarrass the school.