STORRS, Conn. — An old number has a new home at Gampel Pavilion.
The No. 32 – worn by Huskies legend Richard “Rip” Hamilton – was retired on Saturday night as UConn took on Villanova. It is only the second men’s basketball jersey to be retired in program history.
RELATED: UConn fans go wild for Rip Hamilton's half-court shot as Huskies host ESPN's College Gameday
Ray Allen’s No. 34 is the only other men’s basketball jersey to live in the Gampel rafters.
“It was a magic moment,” Hamilton told reporters remembering when he first got the call that his jersey was going to be retired a Gampel.
“We play for banners. As a kid growing up and watching the game and being inspired by all the greater players, you just look up in the rafters and you see conference finals, you see NBA finals. Same thing when I came here [to UConn],” he said. “What we didn’t have at the time was a national championship and I wanted to do it for coach (Jim) Calhoun.”
He said he joked with Calhoun ahead of the ceremony that he was told as an 18-year-old student that he would do great things at UConn but never imagined it would be a jersey retirement.
Hamilton had one of the most decorated careers in UConn basketball history. He led the team to its first NCAA National Championship. The Huskies 1998-99 team is still the only team in program history to win the regular season title and the national championship in the same season.
"Playing here at UConn, it was absolutely amazing," he said.
Hamilton represented the Huskies for three seasons, scoring 2,036 points – second only to Chris Smith (2,145) on the all-time UConn scoring list. During this time, he was named two-time All-American and is one of six players to win Big East Player of the Year awards.
The Coatesville, Pa., native was picked No. 7 overall in the 1999 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards and had a 14-year NBA career with the Wizards, Pistons, and Bulls. He was a three-time NBA All-Star and won an NBA Championship with the Pistons in 2003-04.
The Pistons retired his No. 32 jersey on Feb. 26, 2017.
---
Do you have a story idea or something on your mind you want to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at newstips@fox61.com
---
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET FOX61 NEWS
Download the FOX61 News APP
iTunes: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Stream Live on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching FOX61.
Steam Live on FIRE TV: Search ‘FOX61’ and click ‘Get’ to download.