More than a number

To many UB fans, it is not a question of if the Bulls' number 11 should be retired. The real question is, for whom?

The number has been worn by arguably the two best UB players in the past ten years - Rasaun Young and Turner Battle. Many UB fans say that the team should retire one player's number, or both.

But plans remain in limbo, because the team lacks a formal policy for retiring numbers, though three numbers were retired years ago. Until the team comes up with such a policy, neither player is likely to be honored, says athletics communications director Paul Vecchio.

"No one really knows exactly how those decisions were made, but we do know that if there was any formal process that it wasn't shared with anyone," Vecchio said. "It's our feeling, and I know from Bill (Maher, UB's interim athletic director) on down, that before we do any other retiring of numbers be it for basketball or anything else that we'd want to come up with a formal policy."

Young hung up his jersey for the last time in 1998, after five years with the Bulls, years before current undergraduate students arrived on campus.

Times were different then. There was no Reggie Witherspoon; the Bulls were led by Tim Cohane. Buffalo wasn't a part of the Mid-American Conference; UB was in its last season in the Mid-Continent Conference.

But though the Bulls did not command the same spotlight back then, Rasaun Young put up remarkable numbers for UB. He is the team's all-time leading scorer with 1,908 points, and he has the top slot in six other career record categories.

Young was also one of six recipients of the National Achievement Award in 1997 for those who "overcome great personal, academic, and/or emotional odds to achieve academic success while participating in intercollegiate athletics," according to the Buffalo Bulls' Web site. Young was inducted into the UB Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004.

Battle's accolades and success, on the other hand, are fresh and familiar.

In 2001, Battle first put on his UB jersey with the number 11; the number he's worn his whole life.

"I chose the number because my birthday is on January 11 and my grandfather died on my 11th birthday," said Battle. "11 is my favorite number."

Battle was named the MAC Player of the Year, selected as a member of the All-MAC and All-MAC Academic teams, and chosen as an Academic All-American and an All-American Honorable Mention. Battle helped lead Buffalo to its most successful season ever, including its first appearance in the MAC championship game and a first ever post season win.

In the past four years that Battle has donned number 11, Buffalo's basketball program has risen in success and in fame. Some, including junior business major David Bogart, feel Battle should be solely honored for accomplishing that feat, something Young wasn't able to.

"Nobody in recent memory, nor nobody in the future, will ever be able to do what Turner Battle did," Bogart said. "That is, make the University at Buffalo turn a corner that not even Rasaun Young did, and bring a team to a postseason, even a postseason victory."

On the other hand, fans who have followed the team since the 1990s, like senior management major Jason Lang, feel it would be a travesty to ignore the accomplishments of Young.

"Turner Battle is the best player to ever put on a Bulls jersey and he should be recognized for everything he did for the program," said Lang. "Likewise, Young needs to be recognized. UB faced obscurity when it came up from D-III and Young helped to establish the program on a D-I level. If Young wore number 12, no one would argue that he shouldn't be retired."

Battle said he agrees with Lang.

"I think that they should retire both number 11's," he said.

Regardless of how much either athlete deserves the recognition, it could be a while before the number is retired.

While 26 basketball players and coaches have been inducted into the UB Athletic Hall of Fame, only three basketball jerseys have been retired.

Curtis Blackmore is the most recent former Bull to have his jersey retired. Blackmore, who donned number 52 for three seasons culminating in 1973, was inducted into the UB Athletic Hall of Fame in 1982 and had his jersey retired in the mid-1990s.

But without a formal policy, Vecchio said he doesn't think either player will be honored with a jersey hanging from Alumni Arena's rafters anytime soon.

"I don't see it happening in the very near future," said Vecchio. "Do I see, hopefully, some policies coming down in terms of moving forward? I hope that happens the foreseeable future."

While number 11 may not be retired in the next few years, it is up to the coach's discretion whether or not the number is available for new players to wear, according to Vecchio.

When asked whether or not he'd allow another player to wear the number, Witherspoon said through the athletic communications office that he would explain the importance of the number and that he would encourage the player to pick a different number.

For Battle, jersey retirement was something he didn't think would be talked about when he came to UB.

"It was always a dream," said Battle. "So if it did happen, it would be a dream come true."