If we want to retire D'Lo, why not Obekpa? Greatest shot blocker all-time in the program, same post season record.
Seriously?
No, not seriously but I wrote that to make a point. The only valid reason to consider retiring D'Lo's number is because he was a top scorer in the history of St Johns. He was a pain in the ass his first two years. Then after the John Lucas camp, he got his head on straight. And, in the last two years, no post season victories.
Who are worthy of getting their numbers retired who played the past thirty five years? Mullin, Mark Jackson, Walter Berry/Malik Sealy. No brainers. Next level for consideration would be, in my opinion, Ron Artest and Felipe Lopez, maybe even Lavar Postell. You could even throw Wennington into the mix. Except for Lopez, all these guys have Elite 8 or better experience and played for teams that were ranked and won. Legends have their numbers retired, winners have their numbers retired. especially in New York.
I'm not a hater on D'Lo. But if we are going to retire numbers based on accumulating statistics, then that returns us to my point of Obekpa. It sounds foolish, and it is foolish. If that group went NCAA soph year, Sweet 16 junior year and even another NCAA their senior year, then retiring D'Lo is a slam dunk. The truth is, he was the leading scorer of an under achieving group.