Syracuse to retire Rudy Hackett, Jim Lee’s numbers in February
Rudy Hackett and Jim Lee, who both reached the Final Four with SU in 1975, will have their jerseys retired at halftime of Syracuse's matchup with UNC on Feb. 21. Leonardo Eriman | Senior Staff Photographer
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Syracuse Athletics announced Monday that it will retire Rudy Hackett’s No. 45 and Jim Lee’s No. 10 at halftime when the men’s basketball program hosts North Carolina on Feb. 21. Hackett and Lee were teammates on the Orange’s 1974-75 squad that reached the program’s first Final Four in 1975.
“Rudy Hackett and Jim Lee are two of the greatest and most important players in the history of Syracuse Basketball,” John Wildhack, Syracuse’s Director of Athletics, said in a statement. “They were the leaders of our first Final Four team in 1975. They are deserving of joining our other great players whose jerseys are displayed in the JMA Wireless Dome.”
Hackett averaged 17.2 points per game throughout his three-year career with SU, averaging a team-high 22.2 during his senior year, when the Orange made the Final Four.
“I don’t think Rudy gets the credit he deserves for playing at Syracuse,” Lee told The Daily Orange in February. “I think his number should have been retired a long time ago. If you look at all the people who are retired and now come around low, (Carmelo) Anthony was only there one year, but if you look at everybody’s career at Syracuse, there’s only one person up there whose numbers are better than Rudy’s, and that’s Billy Owens.”
Hackett’s roommate of three years, Lee, scored 17.2 points per game during the 1974-75 campaign and averaged 13.4 points across his three seasons at Syracuse. He was also a senior when the Orange made the 1975 Final Four.
“The fact that (Hackett) hasn’t been acknowledged, or (Lee) hasn’t been acknowledged, I think that’s an oversight,” Steve Shaw, a forward on SU’s 1947-75 team, told The D.O. in February.
Hackett and Lee only played three seasons for SU because they both were on the junior varsity team as freshmen. At the time, they’d often go to the third floor of the Archbold Gymnasium, now the Barnes Center at The Arch, to shoot together, play one-on-one and run through Syracuse’s offense.
Once they were promoted to the Orange’s varsity team as sophomores, they helped the program make three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances under then-head coach Roy Danforth.
Heading into the 1975 Tournament, Syracuse was largely characterized as a Cinderella. The Orange squeaked by La Salle in the first round of the then-32-team bracket before facing North Carolina as a heavy underdog in the Sweet 16. Backed by Lee’s game-winning shot, SU upset the Tar Heels before defeating Kansas State to advance to the Final Four. The Orange then fell to Kentucky.
Last season, SU honored its first of six teams that reached the Final Four during halftime against Boston College. One year later, two of that team’s stars will be forever immortalized as SU legends in the JMA Wireless Dome.
Senior Staff Writer Aiden Stepansky contributed reporting to this article.
