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Iowa athletic director Gary Barta apologized to the family of Hawkeyes great basketball player Roy Marble on Tuesday for any resentment they have over star player Luka’s retirement. Garza.
Garza broke Marble’s 32-year career goalscoring record last month, is the two-time Big Ten player of the year and is among the pioneers for the title of National Player of the Year. Iowa announced after Sunday’s home victory over Wisconsin that no one in the basketball program would wear the number 55 after this season.
Marble led Iowa to his only 30-game winning season and an NCAA regional final in 1987 and the Sweet 16 the following year, and many consider him the best player on the program of all time. His n ° 23 has not been withdrawn.
“We have learned since Sunday that Roy Marble’s family have been injured and have felt disrespected since that day,” Barta said. “I just want to take a moment and share that absolutely this disrespect was unintentional and publicly apologize for it.”
Marble died of cancer in 2015 at the age of 48. He and Garza are the only male players in Iowa to score more than 2,000 points.
His son, Roy Devyn Marble, tweeted on Monday that he would never watch another game in Iowa.
Young Marble also played for the Hawkeyes. He scored over 1,600 points and was a 2014 Big Ten first team pick. Father and son both had short NBA careers.
Barta said that since arriving at Iowa in 2006, three players are most often cited as deserving of having their numbers withdrawn: Marble and Consensus All-Americans Murray Wier (1948) and Chuck Darling (1952).
Barta said none of the three met the university’s criteria for such an honor. Barta did not disclose the criteria.
“Iowa Athletics, in conjunction with the Iowa Varsity Club, has had different criteria over the years regarding achievement, All-America recognition, individual awards, etc.,” the athletic department said in a statement. “Gary Barta and the Iowa Administration have been working to develop a more streamlined set of criteria, in which exact awards and recognitions are included.” The top two priorities are individual recognition of the National Player of the Year and consensus recognition from across America. Gary and The Iowa Administration will continue to work on a more direct list of criteria that will be used in the future. “
Marble, Wier and Darling will be among the honored players in a permanent exhibit planned for the Carver Hawkeye Arena hall, Barta said. A temporary display is in place until the school moves forward with a lobby renovation project.
Coach Fran McCaffery said he got involved in talks with the Marble family because he was coaching Roy Devyn Marble.
“I felt it was important to do this,” said McCaffery, “and our conversations have been very positive and will remain so as we move forward to honor Roy as he should be.”
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