In Reply to: UCLA criteria for retiring numbers posted by Dr.Bruin on April 03, 2025 at 21:42:57
According to Wikipedia:
UCLA in 1996 expanded the requirements for retiring numbers to include players who were consensus national players of the year.[4] This allowed the jersey numbers of Walt Hazzard (No. 42), Sidney Wicks (35), Marques Johnson (54), and Ed O'Bannon (31) to be retired.[9] In 2004, UCLA also allowed players inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame to be eligible, enabling the retirement of Gail Goodrich's No. 25.[4][10] Three Bruins were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012, and UCLA retired their numbers in 2013—Jamaal Wilkes (52), Reggie Miller (31), and Don Barksdale (11).[11] It was the second time No. 31 was retired, O'Bannon's being the first.[12]
Betts was named national defensive player of the year so perhaps that is the ticket to retiring her number?
I would look at this from the perspective of men's basketball. No player on a men's team that good, at any school, will stick around long enough to be named All American three times. Those days are long ago in the rearview mirror. So, baring a national player of the year, if UCLA sticks to that criteria the odds of ever hanging another jersey are effectively zero. So should we still hold Betts to that criteria? I believe she has done enough to warrant her jersey being retired. Just my opinion.