Pippen returns to a packed house, roaring crowd
As Scottie Pippen glanced Wednesday at the nicely framed No. 33 jersey behind glass, as he watched the large replica of his jersey being lowered from the rafters of the the Farris Center, he said he had two thoughts.
“The first thing I thought about was that this is the second jersey I have hanging like that; I consider this on that level,” said Pippen, UCA’s greatest player whose No. 33 jersey hangs in the Chicago Bulls United Center, where he helped win six NBA championships.
“Then I thought I made it; I did,” he said. “I accomplished a lot of things — as any player would want to accomplish. This is as as great of honor as any player could ever receive, higher than any All-Amerian or gold medal.”
Pippen, who began his career as a manager at UCA and rose by his senior year to a No. 5 NBA draft choice, has six world championship rings and two Olympic gold medals.
After 27 years, UCA officially retired his number Wednesday night during halftime of the Bears’ game against Nicholls State.
He returned to a house packed greater than any he had played before. The official attendance was listed at 5,297, a record attendance for a UCA game. Only a couple of rows at the very top of the Farris Center on both sides were vacant.
“That’s the largest crowd I’ve seen here and to see that after coming back after 27 years, it’s just a great feeling,” he said.
Pippen was joined by his former UCA teammates and coaches at midcourt during the ceremony.
Bill Pledger, who was the public address announcer when he played, again said the once-familiar phrase, “Now Ladies and Gentleman, would you welcome a 6-7 forward from Hamburg, Arkansas ... The one and the only No. 33, Scot...tiiiiiiie Pippen!”
Thunderous roars and applause.
Don Dyer, Pippen’s coach at UCA, again told the story of how Pippen and his taller brother stuck his head in the door of his office one day. Donald Wayne, Pippen’s high school coach whom Dyer had coached at Henderson State, had told him, “I’ve got a young man that I want you to look at. I don’t know if he can play or not.”
Without a scholarship, Dyer put Pippen on work-study as a manager, then, because of attrition, he gained a scholarship his freshman year. He grew form 6-1 to 6-7 by his sophomore year.
“And the rest is history,” Dyer said. “He got better and better.”
The lights at the Farris Center darkened and the replica of Pippen’s purple jersey was lowered behind the south goal.
“I was blessed that my body grew and matured enough that I was able to accomplish the things I’ve always wanted to do,” said Pippen, who played 17 years in the NBA, in a post-ceremony news conference. “No player can ever set out intending to have his number retired. It’s something given to you by the organization and institution.”
A few fans were lined outside the Farris Center doors at 4:30 p.m. When the doors opened at 5:15, a decent group rushed to plot out their seats.
The parking lot was chaos shortly after 6.
When Pippen filed in 15 minutes before game time, the pep band and students began chanting, “Scottie Pippen, Scottie Pippen.” When he walked down the sideline to a holding area, phones and small cameras were raised and fired in unison.
The photo session continued several minutes after the ceremony as the crowd thinned considerably the second half.
“I don’t think the timing was bad (after the retirement ceremony) at all,” he said. “We’ve been trying to work it out and things hadn’t worked out. Now that my playing career is over, these are the moments you really cherish. I grew up here. I grew up around a lot of these people. It’s nice to see the same faces are still here.”
