Texas A&M to raise Acie Law's No. 1 to rafters

[KFDM COOP]

Texas A&M to raise Acie Law's No. 1 to rafters

03:04 PM CST on Tuesday, February 12, 2008

By BRIAN DAVIS / The Dallas Morning News

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COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Texas A&M athletic department will take the highly unusual step of hanging Acie Law's No. 1 jersey in the rafters at Reed Arena during Saturday's game against Oklahoma State.

"Acie Law Day," as its being billed, gives the school a chance to honor the former point guard for his contributions over the last four seasons.

With a cold-blooded leadership mentality, Law led the Aggies to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament last season. The former Kimball standout won the Bob Cousy Award for being the nation's best point guard.

Law now holds an almost mythical place in A&M fandom and is widely considered one of the best men's basketball players in school history.

First-year coach Mark Turgeon, who never coached Law, said he conceived the idea to honor Law and "he was real excited." Law now plays for the Atlanta Hawks. With the NBA All-Star weekend coming up, Law's team would be idle.

"What that kid did for this program, especially last season, has made my job easier and tougher," Turgeon said. "He made it easier because I can recruit anywhere in the country. But also the expectations have changed for our program. He deserves his day.

"He came and got introduced at a football game, and that was a special moment," Turgeon added. "I think this will be an unbelievable five or six minutes for him in his lifetime."

The school is being careful not to call this a jersey retirement, however. A&M has historically not honored individual athletes by retiring their jerseys. John David Crow, A&M's only Heisman Trophy winner, doesn't have his jersey retired.

When asked how long Law's jersey will stay in the rafters, Turgeon said, "Forever."

A&M spokesman Colin Killian said the athletic department is considering forming a committee that would determine which athletes should be honored. Crow, Dat Nguyen, Lisa Branch (women's basketball) and Casey Fossum (baseball) are others who come to mind immediately.

Limited tickets remain: A&M officials announced that a limited number of tickets remain for Saturday's game against Oklahoma State. Tickets are $20 and can be ordered online at 12thmanfoundation.com or by calling 888-992-4443. Game time is 2:30 p.m.

[bullets13]

If anyone deserves it, Acie does... he played a tremendous part in bringing them into the elite of college basketball.