With fellow retirees Mike Gminski and Grant Hill looking on, Jay Williams became the 11th player in Duke basketball history to have his jersey retired Wednesday.
During the halftime ceremony, Williams held his framed No. 22 jersey aloft while Cameron Crazies chanted, "J-Will, J-Will, rock you, rock you!" He then handed off the jersey to his parents David and Althea and addressed the crowd to tumultuous applause.
"When I first came to this school on an unofficial visit, the first thing I did was come into this gym and look up at the banners," Williams said. "It was always a dream of mine that one day I would be lucky enough to be up there."
Williams was the only Blue Devil in history to win national player of the year honors in two seasons. He finished his career with 2,079 points - good enough for sixth on Duke's all-time list. He teamed with fellow-retiree Shane Battier on the 2001 national championship team, and was one of three Duke juniors to leave for the NBA after the 2001-2002 season.
"His accomplishments
The second pick in the 2002 NBA Draft, Williams has been averaging 9.2 points and 5.3 assists per game for the Chicago Bulls as a rookie.
"It's very energizing [to come back] considering that I've lost more games this year than I have my entire life," Williams said. "Things are done so differently here. It's good to be back in this kind of environment where there's nothing but love for you."
Williams, and his family, received love from the Cameron Crazies both before the game and during halftime. At one point in the ceremony the Crazies began chanting to the Williamses, "One more kid!"
The New Jersey native left Duke after three years, but graduated with a degree in sociology after taking two summer courses. He is the first Blue Devil to follow the three-year plan, and his feat made waves throughout college basketball. Although Williams believes he made the right choice given his situation, he encouraged other players to stay in school as long as it made sense for them.
"I think college is the best years of your life," Williams said. "If you give those up, you might have many great years, but... these are the best years of my life."
Returning to Cameron Indoor Stadium for the first time, Williams nearly broke down in tears when addressing the crowd. His voice trembled and he paused a number of times toward the end of his speech.
"I told Mike Gminksi that no matter how much I've prepared for it, preparing is not really going to allow me to establish how I'll feel tonight," he said beforehand. "This gives me an opportunity to step back on to the court and feel the vibration of the fans."
When he regained his composure completely, he smiled at the crowd and said to thunderous cheers, "Last time I played, we beat Carolina."
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