Men's Basketball
February 18, 1999
CORAL GABLES, Fla. –Athletic Director Paul Dee and head men’sbasketball coach Leonard Hamilton announced today that the UniversityofMiami will retire the number of senior forward Tim James for hisaccomplishments on the court and his work in the community. James willbehonored in a ceremony prior to the Hurricanes’ regular season finaleagainstRutgers on Feb. 27. James joins Rick Barry (1962-65) as the only Hurricanesto have their numbers retired.
“Not only has James beena tremendous athlete on the court but hehas been an outstanding young man off it as well,” commented Hamilton.”Hehas represented himself, his team, the University and his communitywithsuch class that we felt it fitting to honor him in this way.”
James, a Miami native and1995 graduate of Miami Northwestern HighSchool, has been a positive influence in the community working withthe”Join a Team, Not a Gang” program the last two seasons. The program,sponsored by the Miami-Dade Police Department, helps at risk childrenin thecommunity find positive alternatives to gangs. James has appeared ontheprogram’s poster and has spent time speaking to local youth groupson theimportance of staying in school and saying no to drugs. James is scheduledto graduate this summer with a degree in Sociology.
“This is a great honor.”said James who is one of only seven playersin BIG EAST history to record 1,000 career points and 500 career reboundsinconference play. “This is something I did not expect.”
James, the only player torecord over 1,200 career points, 600career rebounds and 200 career blocked shots, has helped lead the Hurricanesinto the national spotlight. During his four seasons Miami has registereda67-41 (.620) record, four consecutive winning seasons and three consecutivepost season appearances including the school’s first NCAA Tournamentbidsince 1960 last season.
Miami’s win total and winningpercentage during his four seasons arethe highest since the Hurricanes registered a 69-37 (.651) record from1964-68. The 6-7 forward currently ranks fourth on Miami’s career scoringlist (1,598 points), sixth on the career rebounding list (809 rebounds)andsecond on the career blocked shots list (209 blocks).
