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St. Vincent-St. Mary to retire James' jersey

Discussion in 'NBA Dish' started by Rockets34Legend, Feb 20, 2003.

  1. Rockets34Legend

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    http://espn.go.com/nba/news/2003/0219/1511421.html

    CLEVELAND -- LeBron James is getting another classic sports jersey -- his own.

    St. Vincent-St. Mary officials plan to retire James' No. 23 jersey following the school's regular-season finale Sunday against Toledo Scott at Akron's Rhodes Arena.

    James, who will not play in the game as part of a two-game suspension ordered earlier this month by a judge, will be presented with his framed Fighting Irish jersey by senior teammates during a postgame ceremony.

    The jersey will be mounted in the school's gymnasium after James graduates in June. The school plans to release an official announcement on Thursday.

    James, expected to the No. 1 pick in this year's NBA draft, had been ruled ineligible by the Ohio High School Athletic Association on Jan. 31 for accepting two retro sports jerseys for free from a clothing store.

    He was reinstated by a judge who blocked the OHSAA's decision that James had violated amateur bylaws by accepting the "throwback'' jerseys -- one of NFL Hall of Famer Gale Sayers and NBA great Wes Unseld -- valued at $845.

    James has already sat out one game and he'll also miss Sunday's game before St. Vincent-St. Mary, ranked No. 1 by USA Today, begins the state tournament with a playoff game on Feb. 28.

    If the school advances, it will play again on March 4, one day before James' case will be heard again by Summit County Judge James Williams, who will likely grant a permanent injunction and overturn the OHSAA's ruling.

    James, expected to be named Ohio's first three-time Mr. Basketball next month, moved into seventh place in the state's career scoring list Sunday.

    He scored 22 points in a 70-43 rout of Kettering Alter, moving James (2,463 points) past former Ohio State and New York Knicks star Jerry Lucas (2,460).

    Following the game, James told a sellout crowd of more than 13,000 at the University of Dayton that he wasn't worthy of being named the game's MVP and handed his trophy to teammate Corey Jones.

    "I had it in my head even before the end of the game that if I would've won the award, I was going to give it to Corey,'' James said of Jones, who hit six 3-pointers and scored 20 points. "He had a great game.''

    Jones promised to cherish the award.

    "You won't find this trophy on eBay, you can be sure of that,'' he said.
     
  2. A-Train

    A-Train Member

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    They should be naming the gymnasium after him...
     
  3. B-Bob

    B-Bob "94-year-old self-described dreamer"
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    Perhaps it would be appropriate to rename the entire town.
    "Lebronburg" has a nice ring, and that's one more ring than
    he'll probably get in the pros.
     
  4. drapg

    drapg Member

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