Former University of Kansas standout guard Jacque Vaughn will have his jersey retired in a ceremony at halftime of the KU-UCLA game on Dec. 21 in Allen Fieldhouse, KU officials announced on Thursday.
Vaughn’s ceremony will be the first of 10 to hang additional jerseys in the Allen Fieldhouse rafters this year. In addition to Vaughn, the jerseys of Tus Ackerman, Gale Gordon, Fred Pralle, Al Peterson, Drew Gooden, Paul Pierce, Jo Jo White, Raef LaFrentz and Howard Engleman will be retired this season on dates that have yet to be determined.
Vaughn was a four-year starter at point guard for the Jayhawks from 1994-97, and he ranks 28th on KU’s all-time scoring list with 1,207 points and first on Kansas’ all-time career assists list with 804.
He was a two-time GTE Academic All-American, and he was named the Academic All-American of the Year in 1997. In addition, he was a two-time first-team All-Big Eight selection and he was named the Big Eight Newcomer of the Year in 1994.
A first-round pick of the Utah Jazz in 1997, Vaughn currently plays for the Orlando Magic.
The criteria to have a jersey retired was expanded prior to this season to include consensus first-team All-Americans, two-time first-team All-America selections and Academic All-American of the Year recipients.
That change resulted in nine players fitting the new criteria – Ackerman, Engleman, Gordon, LaFrentz, Peterson, Pierce, Pralle, Vaughn and White. In addition, Gooden would have qualified under the old criteria. He was named Co-National Player of the Year in 2002.
The concept of retiring the jerseys of outstanding Jayhawk men’s basketball players was initiated prior to the 1992-93 season, when banners honoring Clyde Lovellete, Danny Manning, B.H. Born, Charlie Black, Paul Endacott, Wilt Chamberlain and Charlie Black were unveiled in the south end of Allen Fieldhouse.
The original criteria for a retired jersey included KU players named college basketball player of the year, most valuable player of the NCAA Tournament or being named a four-time All-American. The list was expanded in 1997 to include Ray Evans, who holds the distinction of being an All-American in both football and basketball.
