Gonzaga retires No. 12

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Almost 20 years after he dished out his final assist for Gonzaga, John Stockton watched Wednesday as the school retired his number.

No Gonzaga player has worn No. 12 since Stockton's last college game on March 12, 1984. But until now he could not get to the Kennel during basketball season for a retirement ceremony.

For the previous 19 years, the Spokane native has been busy building a Hall of Fame-caliber career with the Utah Jazz. He retired before this season.

"Thanks for this tremendous honor," Stockton told the packed house of 4,000. "I'm proud to be able to share this with you guys."

He thanked college coaches Dan Fitzgerald and Jay Hillock, his teammates -- some of them were in attendance -- and school administrators who supported athletics.

"We weren't quite the team we have out here today," Stockton said, noting the Bulldogs' rise in national polls.

"It's great to be part of this Gonzaga family," he said. "It's a privilege to watch this team."

He also joked that while the student section looked different, the section of the stands occupied by boosters "is the same group that was here 20 years ago."

Hailed as "the ultimate Zag," Stockton was joined by his wife Nada, six children, his parents and members of his large extended family in Spokane. He stood with his wife at the top of the key and was presented with a framed jersey with his number on the front.

A poster of the jersey also was unveiled in the rafters.

Many in the crowd wore blue T-shirts with the No. 12 on the front.

The program began with vintage video of Stockton in tight 1980s shorts throwing assists and scoring during his 1980-84 college career.

Nowadays, Stockton often can be spotted in the stands at Gonzaga games. The Bulldogs are No. 6 in the nation, heights never dreamed of when he played for them.

Stockton was the first player in GU history to score 1,000 points and hand out 500 assists.

The West Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 1984, he left Gonzaga as the all-time leader in assists with 554 and steals with 262. He was third in career field goal percentage at 55.9 percent and sixth in scoring with 1,340 points.

His assists record has since been eclipsed by Matt Santangelo and Blake Stepp, but he still holds the steals record.

He also set single-season marks for assists with 201 and steals with 109, both records coming in his senior season. He set a single- game record with nine steals and tied the single-game assists record with 13.

As a senior, he led the conference in scoring with 20.9 points per game.

He was the final player cut from the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team.

Stockton was the 16th player selected in the 1984 NBA draft, and spent his entire career with Utah.

He retired as the NBA's career leader in assists with 15,806 and steals with 3,265. In 1996 he was voted one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history.

Stockton was a 10-time NBA All-Star and a member of the Dream Team that won gold medals at the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics.

Stockton played 1,504 regular-season games, 182 playoff games and holds the record for most seasons with the same franchise.

His number was never officially retired, but the team would not assign it to other players. When Dan Dickau transferred to Gonzaga, he requested No. 12 in honor of Stockton, but settled for No. 21.

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