PROVO -- From now on the No. 22 BYU basketball jersey will hang from the rafters of the Marriott Center. For the first time in the 100-year BYU basketball history, a jersey was retired when the school honored former Cougar star Danny Ainge.
"It's just a great honor," Ainge said. "BYU was the greatest time of my life. It's just great to be a part of BYU basketball. I don't know why mine is the first to go up. There were a lot of great players before me. Hopefully this is just the start."
The ceremony, which took place during the halftime of BYU's game against Colorado State, started with a video clip of Ainge's famous coast-to-coast, last-second basket to beat Notre Dame in the 1981 NCAA Tournament.
Men's athletic director Val Hale shared some of Ainge's accomplishments, which include being named college basketball player of the year in 1981, playing professional baseball with the Toronto Blue Jays, and winning two basketball national championships with the Boston Celtics.
BYU president Merrill J. Bateman shared a couple of short letters from two former BYU presidents, Elder Dallin H. Oaks, who is in the Philippines, and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, who is in Chile.
Adding his own comments, President Bateman said, "The standard has been set very high. We hope there will be more."
The criteria considered to retire a jersey include the following:
-- First team All-American
-- Recipient of major national award
-- University graduate
-- Minimum 15-year waiting period
-- Significant accomplishments after BYU graduation (athletics, community, church)
-- Faithful member of LDS Church or other religious affiliation
Elder L. Tom Perry, an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, addressed Ainge and said, "You've been an example to all of us all of your life."
One of Ainge's former teammates, Scott Runia, also addressed the crowd of 22,702. He said they used to call Ainge clout because he brought the team clout. They called him clutch because he made the play when it counted. They called him smooth because Danny won the heart of Michelle Toolson, Ainge's wife. But most importantly, they called him a friend.
"It's been an honor to play with you, and it's been an honor to be your friend," Runia said.
Ainge's former coach, Frank Arnold, also shared a few words.
"He is one of the best of the best," Arnold said. "He is more than just a great basketball player, he is also a terrific person."
Michelle Ainge was presented with a diamond pendent in the shape of the No. 22, and Danny was presented with a bronzed basketball and an original No. 22 jersey from when he played at BYU.
Athletic director Val Hale said, "Let's make history," as the replica No. 22 jersey was rolled down from the rafters and the crowd burst into cheers.
In attendance with Ainge and his wife were five of his six children and his father. His son Tanner is currently serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Former Cougar coach Roger Reid, an assistant during Ainge's career in Provo, was also in attendance along with many of Ainge's former teammates.
Ainge's jersey, not his number, was retired, which means future players may still have the option to wear No. 22. Only two other BYU athletes, football players -- Eldon Fortie (1960-62), who wore No. 40, and Marion Probert (1951-54), who wore No. 81 -- have had their jerseys retired.
Known for his competitive, hard-nosed playing style, Ainge has become one of the most famous athletes to graduate from BYU. Ainge played for BYU from 1978-81.
During his four-year career as a Cougar, Ainge was a Consensus All-American, a two-time First Team Academic All-American, the WAC Player of the Year and a four-time All-WAC selection. He set an NCAA record with 112 consecutive games scoring in double digits and broke the BYU and WAC all-time scoring records with 2,467 points -- before the three-point era.
As a senior in 1981, Ainge led BYU to the NCAA Elite Eight at the Eastern Regional in Atlanta. He concluded his senior season by winning the Eastman Award as well as the John Wooden Award -- given annually to the top collegiate basketball player in the nation.
Ainge beat out Isiah Thomas (Indiana), Sam Bowie (Kentucky), Mark Aguirre (DePaul), Ralph Sampson (Virginia) and Steve Johnson (Oregon State) to win the Wooden Award. In doing so, he became the award's fifth winner, joining Marques Johnson, Larry Bird, Phil Ford and Darrell Griffith.
A two-sport athlete, Ainge was drafted by both the Toronto Blue Jays for baseball and the Boston Celtics for basketball. After playing four seasons with the Blue Jays, including several while attending BYU, he chose to pursue an NBA career.
Ainge was a member of the Celtics' 1984 and 1986 Championship teams, and played in six NBA finals with three different teams (Boston, Portland and Phoenix). He also played for the Sacramento Kings. He became only the third player in NBA history to make 1,000 three-point field goals, finishing his 14-year career with 1,002.
Ainge played in 193 NBA playoff games, which ranks third all-time behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 237 games and Scottie Pippen's 204. He ranks ahead of Magic Johnson, Robert Parrish, John Havlicek and Bill Russell to name a few.
After retiring in 1995, Ainge was an NBA basketball television analyst for Turner Broadcasting for one year before the Phoenix Suns brought him back to the organization as an assistant and then the head coach in 1996. Realizing he wanted to spend more time with his family, Ainge resigned as head coach in 1999. In his three years as head coach of the Suns, Ainge had a mark of 123-83 (.597) with three NBA Playoff appearances.
Ainge was inducted into the GTE Academic All-America Hall of Fame in May 2000. He currently works with Turner Broadcasting as an NBA analyst. His son Austin is a freshman on the 2002-03 BYU basketball team.
"This is certainly a well-deserved honor for Danny," BYU Head Basketball Coach Steve Cleveland said. "I really like that fact that we are recognizing the accomplishments of people who have helped create an excellent basketball tradition at BYU. Obviously, Danny's impact on the program has been significant. It is great to see his jersey hanging from the Marriott Center rafters."
BYU is celebrating its 100th year of basketball this season. The Cougars are ranked among the top-40 all-time NCAA programs with a .609 winning percentage. The Cougars have recorded 80 winning seasons and advanced to a postseason tournament 28 years, with 19 NCAA bids and nine NIT berths. They will add another postseason bid this year with a likely NCAA invite after claiming its 26th conference title with a win over CSU on the night Ainge was honored.