Trevon Bluiett, one of the most decorated players in Xavier basketball history, will have his No. 5 jersey retired, the school announced Wednesday afternoon. The news was announced first on the Wednesday's episode of The Sean Miller Podcast, which featured Bluiett.
Bluiett is the first name to be revealed on a short list of former Xavier men's and women's basketball players who will have their jersey retired this summer, according to Xavier Athletics.
Bluiett was part of four NCAA Tournament teams during his time with the Musketeers, including an Elite Eight run in 2017 and a pair of Sweet 16 appearances. Bluiett had a school-record tying seven NCAA Tournament wins during his collegiate career and finished second on Xavier's all-time scoring list with 2,261 points.
Bluiett is one of 13 players in Big East history to earn first-team all-league honors three times (2016-18). He becomes the fifth former Xavier men's basketball player to have a banner hanging at Cintas Center, joining Byron Larkin, Tyrone Hill, Brian Grant and David West. Xavier has two women's basketball players − Jo Ann Osterkamp and Tara Boothe − with retired jerseys. Former President Fr. James Hoff and former Academic Advisor and current Faculty Athletic Representative Sr. Rose Ann Fleming also share that honor.
"Just as hanging a championship banner is a symbol of excellence, honoring former players with retired numbers is one of the highest honors a program can bestow," Xavier Vice President and Director of Athletics Greg Christopher said in a press release. "Each of these former Musketeer greats contributed to building the foundation of Xavier's basketball programs."
The school announced that the retirement of these numbers this summer will end a multi-year selection process, which included the development of a standardized approach to jersey retirements and conversations with Xavier Athletics.
A subset of the Xavier Athletics Hall of Fame Committee members worked through a criterion for jersey retirement.
Elibitilty for jersey retirement
- Must have a degree from Xavier
- Must be a member of the Xavier Athletics Hall of Fame
- Individual honors and statistical milestones must be among the elite of his/her sport
- Team success at Xavier is a major factor, including championships and NCAA Tournament success
- Team winning percentage during career must be 65% or more
- Professional basketball success after Xavier may be considered
"Retiring certain jersey numbers has been long-discussed within the department and certainly by our fans," Christopher said in a statement. "Rather than make emotional decisions, I wanted to be sure we had a process in place that was thoughtful, could stand the test of time and captured those former players who were truly the best of the best to ever wear a Xavier uniform."
Bluiett, who was inducted into the Xavier Athletics Hall of Fame earlier this year, will play for the Xavier-based alumni team, Zip 'Em Up, in The Basketball Tournament (TBT) beginning this Friday at Fifth Third Arena.
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