Gerry Ward's number raised to rafters

Excitement was in the air during the men's basketball game against Virginia Tech on Saturday- and it wasn't because of the new gold uniforms.

It was because no member of the Boston College basketball team would ever wear the number 40 ever again. During halftime, the jersey of Gerry Ward, Class of '63, joined the select few retired numbers to hang from the rafters of Conte Forum. After spending his childhood years in the Parkchester section of the Bronx, Ward set his sights on BC for his collegiate career, despite being wooed by the likes of Kentucky and UCLA.

Because freshmen were ineligible to play in Ward's day, he had just three seasons to establish himself as one of the greatest players in the history of the program.

Playing a different position each season, Ward averaged over 15 points and 13 rebounds per game throughout his career, and he finished with a 52.5 shooting percentage from the floor.

He scored 1,112 points in 71 total games and tallied 947 rebounds from 1960-63.

As a team captain in his senior season, during which he played under coach Don Martin, Ward averaged 20 points per game and notched a career-high 32 points in a contest against Fairfield.

He also led the Eagles to victory in the first Beanpot basketball tournament and was subsequently named MVP.

At the end of the season, he was bestowed the prestigious Harry Stein Trophy, awarded to the top basketball player in New England.

In addition to being named a member of the All-East first team and the All-America third team his senior season, Ward graduated an Academic first-team All-American. Following his successful college career, Ward was selected as the fifth pick in the first round of the 1963 NBA Draft and spent four seasons with St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Chicago. The current resident of Ridgefield, Conn., joins Michael Adams, Terry Driscoll, and John Silk as the only players in BC history to have their jerseys retired.