The Morning Dish – Thursday, September 16th
To the Rafters!: UCLA will honor former Bruin legend Gail Goodrich by retiring his number 25 jersey at a halftime ceremony against Michigan on December 18th at Pauley Pavilion. Goodrich was on the UCLA NCAA championship squads of 1964 and 1965, the first of many led by John Wooden. Goodrich was the NCAA Player of the Year in 1964, and led the Bruins to a 28-2 record and a win over Cazzie Russell’s Michigan squad in the 1965 NCAA’s. As a pro, Goodrich was drafted in the first round by the Los Angeles Lakers, where he won an NBA title in 1972. He played in the NBA for 14 seasons with three teams. Goodrich will be the seventh Bruin to have his uniform retired, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (No. 33), Bill Walton (32), Ed O’Bannon (31), Sidney Wicks (35), Walt Hazzard (42) and Marques Johnson (54). Goodrich is no stranger to jersey retirement, as his No. 12 was retired last year by Sun Valley Poly High School, who won the LA City Title in 1961, and his Lakers No. 25 jersey was retired in 1996.
Speaking of Jerseys: Michigan also announced yesterday that they will be retiring the No. 41 jersey of Glen Rice. Rice, an All-American who led the Wolverines to the 1989 NCAA championship, will be the fourth Wolverine to have his jersey retired, joining the aforementioned Cazzie Russell, Rudy Tomjanovich, and Phil Hubbard. Michigan’s all-time leading scorer, Rice set an NCAA Tournament record with 184 points in six games, and was named tournament MVP. Rice was the No. 4 overall pick in the 1989 NBA Draft by the Miami Heat, and played a total of 15 seasons with six teams. Rice is the Heat’s all-time leading scorer, and won an NBA championship with the 2000 Los Angeles Lakers. The ceremony will take place during halftime of Michigan’s February 20th game against Indiana.
Former Mountaineer Found: Former West Virginia guard Drew Schifino has turned up playing for California University – and no, not the Condors of 90210 fame. We’re talking the NCAA D-II California (Pennsylvania) Vulcans. Schifino, a terrific scorer on John Beilein’s Mountaineer teams, had just had his 48-game streak of scoring in double digits snapped when he made questionable comments to the media. Beilein suspended Schifino for one game, but when he didn’t show for practice, he was dismissed from the team. Schifino, the Big East’s second leading scorer behind Carmelo Anthony in 2002-03, transferred to Middle Tennessee State, but told head coach Kermit Davis that he wanted to play right away. Thus the move to D-II, where Schifino won’t have to sit out the 2004-05 campaign.
Drive-By Bowler: Arkansas State Kitus Witherspoon was injured by a fellow student-athlete as he was hit by a car during an early morning two-mile conditioning run. The driver of the vehicle, Karen Syrocki, a member of the Arkansas State bowling team, was headed for a team weight-lifting session when the accident occurred. Witherspoon, a JuCo transfer from Orlando, received stiches for a laceration on his arm, and had other minor abrasions. He is expected to recover fully.
Giving Up the Fight: As reported earlier this week, University of South Florida women’s basketball player Andrea Armstrong, a converted Muslim, had encouraged the school to petition the NCAA for the right to wear non-revealing clothing and an Islamic head scarf during games. However, yesterday Armstrong announced that she was leaving the team, as she didn’t want the uniform issue to become a distraction. The NCAA had not yet weighed in on the matter, but USF had allowed her to participate with the special uniform after meeting with the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Team to be Inducted: Dave Gavvitt’s 1973 Providence squad will be inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame next week. The squad, which featured Ernie DiGregorio, Kevin Stacom, Marvin Barnes and Fran Costello, went 27-4 and went to the NCAA Final Four. That team won 17 straight at one point, and was undefeated at home with a 14-0 mark. The enshrinement ceremony is to be held Tuesday, Sept. 24 in the Ryan Center.
Flyer Delay: The season opener for the Dayton Flyers has been pushed back a day, due to high school football. The opener, originally slated for Saturday, November 20th against Eastern Kentucky, will now be on Sunday, November 21st, at 2 p.m. The switch was necessary due to a high school football playoff game scheduled for Welcome Stadium at the same time, which really would have put the hurt on parking adjacent to UD Arena. Dayton, who finished 24-9 last season, has 16 home games and 11 road games this season.
Tragic Dunk: A Seattle-area teen was killed when a portable backboard collapsed during a slam dunk, slamming the victim’s head to the pavement. Russell Dean, 19, was playing basketball at a friend’s house Sunday when he went up for a slam dunk. The portable backboard flipped forward as Dean grabbed the rim, sending both to the concrete. Dean, a senior at Franklin Pierce High School, underwent emergency surgery, removing a portion of his skull to alleviate pressure from Dean’s swelling brain, but the surgery was unsuccessful, and Dean was declared dead just hours after the accident.
