In February of 2007, Marquette men’s basketball retired Dwyane Wade’s No. 3 jersey. Since then, nobody else had been added to the rafters of Fiserv Forum, until last Tuesday night.
Jim Chones became the 10th player in MU history to have his jersey retired, as his No. 22 jersey was sent to the rafters during halftime of Marquette’s game against Seton Hall.
A look back at Chones’ MU career
Chones is one of the most accomplished players in program history.
Across his two seasons with Marquette, the Racine, Wisconsin native scored 952 points and pulled down 583 rebounds. MU went 49-1 in the games that Chones appeared in with the only loss in that span coming in the 1971 NCAA Tournament to Ohio State.
In 1972, MU was 21-0 and was coming off a 70-61 win over Creighton at Milwaukee Arena. After the game, Chones was told to go downtown Milwaukee, where a pro-offer worth over a million dollars would be waiting for him from the New York Nets.
“Here I am, my daddy went bankrupt three times before I was 18,” Chones said with a laugh in an interview with the Marquette Wire. “I didn’t have any idea what to do.”
Chones called former MU head coach Al McGuire seeking advice, and was immediately met with a hard answer.
“Before I can say anything, Al says, ‘You got to go.’ He said, ‘Jimmy, if you get hurt or something, I couldn’t live with that, you’ve got to go. Here’s a chance to help your family, millions of dollars.'”
He ultimately decided to accept the offer, and the rest was history.
Chones played 10 seasons professionally and was named to the ABA All-Rookie team in 1973. He also won an NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1980 during the early days of the ‘Showtime era’.
The first game after Chones’s departure in 1972, Marquette lost by 21 points to Detroit Mercy. MU finished the season 25-4 and lost to Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament. The team was clearly not the same without Chones, leaving the 1972 season as one of the biggest “what-if’s” in program history.
“We would’ve been undefeated, we had a great team,” Chones said. “We had every answer, personnel wise, for any situation. We were athletic, we could shoot, I was a tough matchup because of my mobility and ability to shoot from the outside and jump and block shots in the traditional manner. We just had a little bit of everything.”
Smart talks about having the opportunity to honor the greats
Over the course of his tenure at Marquette, Smart has made it a point to honor those who have previously worn the jersey.
“Every game when they play that video before the starting lineup, I’ve seen that video a thousand times, so I don’t watch the video,” head coach Smart said. “I just look up in the rafters and I think about those guys.
“And I think about the coaches as well, Al McGuire and Hank Raymonds, that are up there. Just what they put into this program. How they created success. The fact that they went through adversity just like we do. The fact that their road wasn’t always a smooth one. They all come from different backgrounds.
“And so, it’s great that he’s up there next to Dwyane Wade because it’s two of the best guys, two of the most accomplished guys to ever play here.”
Chones got a chance to share some words with the team Tuesday night before the game.
MU legend, @chones22 spoke with the team yesterday before his jersey was sent to the rafters!#MUBB | #WeAreMarquette pic.twitter.com/Qy3hAMcxt2
— Marquette Basketball (@MarquetteMBB) February 19, 2025
“First of all, it’s an honor to be here,” Chones said to the team. “I speak all the time, but I had never spoken to a Marquette team, first of all, I don’t interfere because Marquette was the best stop for me. It gave me a chance to grow up, a chance to be around other people. It had its challenges and its struggles, and we made it through.”
Chones has served as a radio analyst for the Cleveland Cavaliers Radio Network since 2010. That means the next time the Cavs play the Bucks in Milwaukee, Chones will get to call a game under the same roof from which his collegiate jersey is hanging.
“It’s a great thing,” Chones said. “I’ve been thinking about it, I’m excited. I just want to thank Marquette wholeheartedly for the opportunity, I’m humbled by it.”
This story was written by Matthew Baltz. He can be reached at matthew.baltz@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @MatthewBaltzMU.
