Could Melvin have his number retired?

[GrindingAway]

I love mel, however I just dont know that he fits in this group

Retired numbers

Year	Name	#
1957	Gary Thompson	#20
1968	Zaid Abdul-Aziz	#35
1988	Jeff Grayer	#44
1991	Jeff Hornacek	#14
1992	Waldo Wegner	#14
1997	Fred Hoiberg	#32
2008	Barry Stevens	#35

He's never even been first team all conf.

I'm with this. I love Melvin and honestly if my boys grow up to be Melvin I'd be ecstatic (that's about the highest compliment I can give). I don't think he belongs in that list though. That should be a very rare list.


Interesting question if Melvin doesn't qualify what will it take to make it in the modern days of going pro early. Most people with a significantly better career than Melvin probably don't stick around 4 years (Georges would be a likely exception).

 

[Rhoadhoused]

I'm with this. I love Melvin and honestly if my boys grow up to be Melvin I'd be ecstatic (that's about the highest compliment I can give). I don't think he belongs in that list though. That should be a very rare list.


Interesting question if Melvin doesn't qualify what will it take to make it in the modern days of going pro early. Most people with a significantly better career than Melvin probably don't stick around 4 years (Georges would be a likely exception).

Where does he not qualify exactly? I just posted a comparison to those players.

 

[cyatheart]

People are forgetting, Melvin isn't done yet....still another whole year to go

 

[Frak]

Love him. GREAT cyclone. But no. Retired jersey should be for greatness. Melvin was very good for a long period of time. But I wouldn't say he was a great player. The offense never ran through him. He was never a game-changer.

I agree with this. Ejim is a nice player. But he's not an all-timer. He was a role player his first two years and last year, he was a good rebounder and modest scorer. This year his scoring will likely go up, but his rebounds down due to Hogue. I'm not even convinced he's the best player on the team this year, but at least the case can be made. I just don't think that you hang someone's jersey in the rafters for staying all four years and averaging around 12 points and 6 rebounds over his career.

Graduated or not, I think that Tinsley and Fizer both made a bigger impact at ISU than Ejim has/will.

 

[TurbulentEddie]

But Ejim is only a Glue Guy; everyone knows you have to be flashy and use the majority of your team's possessions to be Truly Great

 

[mjhavlo76]

The retired list should be an exclusive group. I get that. But I do believe Melvin Ejim belongs with that inclusive group of Cyclone greats. Here is why. Melvin Ejim has amassed over 1,000 points and is on target to collect over 1,000 rebounds over his career (which I believe only a few Cyclone players have done). If Ejim does go over 1,000 rebounds in his career that should put him around 3rd all-time in rebounding. And if Ejim starts the rest of his games and say we make a deep NCAA Tournament run--he would be most likely have the most starts a player has had in Cyclone history. You throw in all of the classroom accolades he has received, I think it would be hard to overlook Ejim's number getting retired. It might take five, ten, fifteen years until it is hung in the rafters but I truly believe it will be done.

 

[jsb]

Melvin would be one of a few (if not the only player) to score 1,000 points and get 1,000 rebounds.

I'd be all for Melvin getting his number retired. I've thought for a long time that our fans don't quite appreciate how good of a basketball player he is.

 

[VeloClone]

There is a reason they don't retire numbers right away. Time will give perspective. If he is deemed worthy ten years down the road, great. If not, he is in the company of a lot of other great Cyclones who never got the honor either.

 

[Stumpy]

It's important to remember that it's tough to compare across generations. Three notable examples: freshmen couldn't play Varsity ball from '56-'73, the shot clock wasn't introduced until '85, and the three-point line wasn't introduced until '86. Imagine Thompson and Hornacek with the three-point line, or Abdul-Aziz with another year to accumulate stats.

My gut tells me Ejim, as great as he is, doesn't belong in this group. But as VeloClone says, only time will tell. Let's see where he finishes this year, and let's revisit this a few years down the road when we have some better perspective.

 

[LawyerClone]

Listen, I love Melvin, but anyone who thinks he is one of the Top 8 or so players in ISU history needs to go read up on Bill Cain and realize how silly they look comparing the two.
Bill Cain - Hall of Fame Class of 2002 - Iowa State University Athletics Official Web Site - www.CYCLONES.com - The home of Iowa State Cyclone Sports

 

[GrindingAway]

Where does he not qualify exactly? I just posted a comparison to those players.

In the end putting someone's jersey in the rafters is opinion so I'm sure we aren't going to agree.

I love Melvin, but if we line those 7 players up in their prime and start picking teams Melvin gets picked 7th by about anyone being honest with themselves. 7th might be good enough to get him in the rafters, but I don't think it's some kind of slam dunk. You can put Bill Cain and even Victor Alexander in your stat list and they are going to look like they fit in as well as Mel, but their jerseys aren't in the rafters.

 

[Cyclone07]

Ejim is everything you want to represent your university. Big 12 Scholar of the Year last year, leads league in double doubles, always plays the game as hard as he can. The past two years we made the NCAA tournament, we probably don't make it without Mel.

 

[bawbie]

Not before Marcus Fizer and Jamaal Tinsley and arguably Bill Cain & Dedric Willoughby.

I don't know about Cain, but Ejim deserves to be up there more than Fizer, Tinsley or Willoughby.

 

[LawyerClone]

I don't know about Cain, but Ejim deserves to be up there more than Fizer, Tinsley or Willoughby.

Why? It's not because he's better than any of them at basketball.

 

[drlove]

Respectfully, no, Melvin's # shouldn't be retired, but I reserve the right to re-evaluate at the end of the year. Thus far, IMO, he hasn't been the "dominant" guy that changed games on a consistent basis simply by being on the court.
Numbers are nice, but knowing who the other people in the rafters are, he doesn't yet belong in that company.

 

[Cyclophile1]

If he has a big year this year and reaches the milestones and winds up with some post-season accolades (i.e. Hon. Mention All-American), then I think you put him on a short list of possibles for down the line. In 10-15 years, he could very well end up as one being selected.

 

[St. Lou Clone]

This reminds me of all the love being given out for Royce White....

I was amazed at the time of how there were so many people saying he was the best Cyclone ever...
And how people hoped their kids could grow up to handle things like Royce did.

Does anyone feel that way still?

My simple opinion on Ejim is no way his number ever gets retired. It's kind of even a silly debate.

Was Ejim anything more than a role player his first 3 years?

Hoiberg is the only guy in recent history (last 20 years) with his # up there. And if you ever watched those teams that he was on, you always knew where he was. He was a big time player from Freshman year on.

Every other guy you are talking about on that list played in TOTALLY different eras, so comparing #s becomes pointless. In particular career numbers.

What we have with Ejim is a good player on good teams in a high scoring era @ Iowa State.

I also agree with an earlier post, I don't even know if Ejim is the best player on THIS team. And if he isn't the #1 player on this team, and he wasn't at any other time he's been here, he's not a retired #.

Give it time, and this will all seem silly.

 

[LawyerClone]

Exactly St. Lou. He's this generations Julius Michalik. Outstanding role player/model and student on good ISU teams.

 

[BryceC]

From all accounts, super great guy, really good player, going to have great #'s. Shouldn't have the jersey retired.

Certainly under appreciated as a player but that isn't a qualification for jersey retirement.

I could be swayed if Iowa State makes a final 4 run and he makes the all tourney team.

 

[im4cyclones]

Never was a game-changer? It's his senior year. In our biggest game of the year so far, he was definitely the game changer.

I guess a retired jersey means more than one big game or consistent career to me. Look, I love Melvin. I love the effort he brings every night. He is a great Cyclone. But in my opinion, a retired jersey is for someone who other teams had to plan against. It is for someone who consistently took over a game. It is for someone that was the focal point of the opposition and still beat them anyway.

Same debate the pros have about having a Hall of Fame versus a Hall of Very Good.

If debate is needed, then the answer is no. No one could debate those already hanging up there. Those hanging up there would be on people's top 5 teams (although memories fade). Would Melvin make anyone's top 5 lineup at the PF position? Would you put him above Fizer? Above Royce? And they aren't hanging up there.

Again, not disparaging him or his game. Great player. Consistent player.