Iowa athletic director Gary Barta apologized to the family of great Hawkeyes basketball player Roy Marble on Tuesday for the harsh feelings they had over the withdrawal of star player Luka Garza’s number.
Last month, Garza broke Marble’s 32-year career record, is the Big Ten double player of the year and is among the top national player of the year. Iowa announced after Sunday’s win at home against Wisconsin that no one on the basketball program would carry the No. 55 spot this season.
Marble led Iowa to his only 30-win season and an NCAA regional final in 1987 and Sweet 16 the following year, and many consider him the best player on the show. His number 23 has not been withdrawn.
“We’ve learned since Sunday that Roy Marble’s family was injured and felt despised since that day,” Barta said. “I just want to take a moment and absolutely share that the lack of respect was involuntary and apologize publicly for it.”
Marble died of cancer in 2015 at the age of 48. He and Garza are the only Iowa male players to score more than 2,000 points.
His son, Roy Devyn Marble, tweeted Monday that he would never see another Iowa game.
The young Marble also starred in the Hawkeyes. He earned more than 1,600 points and was the first team in the Big Ten in 2014. The father and son had a short career in the NBA.
Barta said that since arriving in Iowa in 2006, three players have often grown up as deserving of retiring numbers: marble and consensus Americans Murray Wier (1948) and Chuck Darling (1952).
Barta said none of the three met the university’s criteria for that honor. Barta would not reveal the criteria.
“Iowa Athletics, along with the Iowa Varsity Club, have had different criteria over the years that involve success, recognition across America, individual awards, etc.,” the athletic department said in a statement. “Gary Barta and the Iowa administration have been working toward a more streamlined set of criteria, which includes accurate recognitions and recognitions. The two top priorities are individual recognition of the national player of the year and the “Gary and the Iowa administration will continue to work to achieve a more direct list of criteria that will be used to move forward.”
Marble, Wier and Darling will be one of the award-winning players in a permanent exhibition planned for the Carver Hawkeye Arena, Barta said. There is a temporary exhibition until the school moves forward with a project to renovate the campus.
Coach Fran McCaffery said he was involved in discussions with the Marble family because he coached Roy Devyn Marble.
“I found it important to do so,” McCaffery said, “and our conversations have been very positive and will continue as we move forward to honor Roy the way he should be.”