Shama: Gophers to retire jerseys of Chuck Mencel and Dick Garmaker

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What about Randy Breuer?

Is there a reason Randy Breuer's jersey hasn't been retired? I don't blame Breu for being miffed as to why his jersey hasn't been hung in the rafters. Is it because he hasn't graduated? I know that used to be one of the criteria, not sure if that's the case any longer?
 

I thought you have to graduate to have your jersey retired? Or am I wrong here?
 

I believe that is the case. I know Willie Burton is finishing up his degree because he wants his number in the rafters.
 

Here is the official release from the U just put out today:

Gopher Legends Mencel and Garmaker to be Honored

Joel Maturi and the University of Minnesota Athletics Department announced today that the jerseys of former Gopher greats Charles “Chuck” Mencel and Dick Garmaker will join six other former Gophers in the rafters of Williams Arena. The retirement ceremony of Mencel’s jersey will be held at halftime of the Minnesota-Northwestern game on Jan. 26, while Garmaker’s jersey will be honored at halftime of the Minnesota-Ohio State game on Feb. 6.

“The University of Minnesota athletic department is pleased to be able to honor a pair of players that mean so much to the history of Golden Gopher Basketball,” said Maturi. “Both players played an integral role in the foundation of Minnesota Basketball. Charlie and Dick deserve this honor, not only for what they did for the program on the court, but off the court as well.”

The 1955 Big Ten Most Valuable Player, Mencel played for the Gophers under head coach O.B. “Ozzie” Cowles from 1951-55. A First Team All-American and Big Ten selection, Mencel averaged 18.6 points and 5.0 rebounds during his senior season in 1955. His 1,391 career points rank ninth in program history. Following his career at Minnesota, Mencel was drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers in the second round of the 1955 NBA Draft and played two seasons for the hometown club.

A teammate of Mencel, Garmaker played two years for Minnesota from 1953-55. A native of Hibbing, Minn., Garmaker was a consensus All-American in 1955, averaging 24.2 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. He also led the team in scoring during his first season as a Gopher, averaging 21.6 ppg in 1953-54. Garmaker’s 1,008 points rank 33rd all-time in program history, despite playing just two seasons, and he still holds the school’s record for scoring average in Big Ten play at 24.8 ppg.

After graduating, Garmaker was reunited with Mencel for two seasons after being drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers. A four time All-Star, he played eight seasons in the NBA with the Lakers (1955-59, 59-60) and the New York Knicks (1959-61) and retired with 5,597 career points.

Jim Brewer was the first former Gopher to be honored by the university when his jersey was retired on March 5, 1973. Mychal Thompson joined Brewer on March 4, 1978, followed by Kevin McHale on Oct. 18, 1993 and Lou Hudson on March 5, 1994. Trent Tucker was the next honored on Feb. 10, 2009 and Whitey Skoog became the sixth jersey retirement honoree on Feb. 22, 2009.

Go Gophers!!
 


I mean no disrespect to Mr. Mencel and Mr. Garmaker, nor Mr. Tucker or Mr. Skoog, but doesn't it seem like there's a devaluation of having your jersey retired at the U right now, at least with reference to men's basketball? The school retired four jerseys in its history, but in the past two years has opted to double that total. It's kind of funny to think that we'll now have almost as many retired numbers as NCAA Tournament appearances.
 

parkinglotgopher said:
I mean no disrespect to Mr. Mencel and Mr. Garmaker, nor Mr. Tucker or Mr. Skoog, but doesn't it seem like there's a devaluation of having your jersey retired at the U right now, at least with reference to men's basketball? The school retired four jerseys in its history, but in the past two years has opted to double that total. It's kind of funny to think that we'll now have almost as many retired numbers as NCAA Tournament appearances.
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Agreed
 

Here is my beef with these retired numbers....

Finally the men's team has more than the women's team and that is great and deserved. I'm glad they are not forgetting the past....BUT how on Earth can they justify having more retired numbers than the football team? They can't. The football team has what, 15 times more Big Ten titles and 6 more National Championships to their name? Just not fair.

Same with the hockey team. How on earth is Neal Broten's number not retired? Heck Aaron Broten too.
 

Retiring specific player's jersey with their number doesn't always constitute retiring the actual number. Not sure what the U is doing but in most cases a school is displaying the name more than actually retiring the number. Tubby is likely trying to resurrect the glory days to bridge the gap in Minnesota's basketball tradition.
 



:(
CollegeBBallFan said:
Retiring specific player's jersey with their number doesn't always constitute retiring the actual number. Not sure what the U is doing but in most cases a school is displaying the name more than actually retiring the number. Tubby is likely trying to resurrect the glory days to bridge the gap in Minnesota's basketball tradition.
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The U changed their policy a few years ago, didn't they? Now they retire jerseys, not actual numbers.
 

I don't know what the Administration has been thinking about. All of the guys they are retiring jerseys for haven't played for 50 years. I guess the idea must be to scare them into thinking it will never happen so they will be really grateful.
Bobby Bell is absolutely one of the best 10 players in the history of the U, maybe the best 5, and we retire his jersey 45 years after his last game? We have to have the worst public relations department in the history of college sports. Amazing.
 

I kinda agree that Tucker and Mencel and Garmaker aren't blow-'em-away types of choices. But anybody who questions Whitey Skoog doesn't know what they're talking about. But the guys I think they've really missed--and I suppose it's because they want a living victim, er, honoree, who will show up at the ceremony--but still, these guys were good.

Marty Rolek--2X all-American, led the Gophers to the 1937 Big Ten title, one of only 2 Big Ten titles since 1919 that aren't tainted (the other of course being 1982).

Jim McIntyre--2X all-American in the late '40s, broke all kinds of Gopher and Big Ten scoring records, including a conference record shooting percentage in his senior year of 1949. Forgotten now because he didn't play pro ball, he wanted to be a minister and was. Died a couple years ago.

Randy Breuer--rules is rules but, yeah, he belongs. One of only 3 men ever to win a MSHSL high school state title and a Big Ten title. (The others are Harold Gillen and Dick Seebach.)

Ron Johnson--all-American in 1960.

Erling Platou--generally regarded as national PoY for the unbeaten Gophers, generally regarded as the mythical national champ in 1919.

As to Skoog, he was a 2X all-American and went on to start as the shooting guard for the world-champ Lakers. Much better than Garmaker.

As to Trent, I am sorry to say that his teammate Darryl Mitchell was a more valuable player in college, and he has the Big Ten MVP trophy to prove it.

As for Mencel, well, he held the career scoring record that Voshon Leonard finally broke, but that was because he played as a freshman. For just that one year, they allowed it. Otherwise freshmen had to sit out until somewhere between Jim Brewer, who sat out, and Mychal Thompson, who didn't.

As to more recent guys, if Burton makes it, Richard Coffey has got to make it. Nobody ever played harder than Richard Coffey. Richard, you're my hero.
 

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