March 12, 2008
THE DAILY ADVANCE By WILL HARRIS Sports Writer
Monday, February 18, 2008
Maybe the worst-kept secret around Elizabeth City State University was officially revealed on Sunday.
A few days ago, a group of retired jersey numbers appeared hanging from the rafters at the R.L. Vaughan Center. One was conspicuously rolled up. Most everyone figured out why.
Celeste Trahan has certainly earned the right to be considered the best women's basketball player in school history, and ECSU wasted no time in letting her, and everyone else, know that by retiring her No. 00 jersey before the Lady Vikings took the court against Virginia State. But Trahan knew something was up long before.
"I love just walking in the gym, or I sit and do my homework," Trahan said. "I glanced up and saw the retired jerseys. I came back and noticed that one was rolled up, and I started jumping up because I just knew it was mine because I didn't know of anyone else that was up for it. It made me feel real good."
She becomes the first women at ECSU to have her number retired and just the fourth player overall, joining football great Jethro Pugh (No. 75) as well as men's basketball players Marvin Trotman (No. 10), the Vikings' all-time leading scorer, and Mike Gale (No. 12) in that exclusive club.
"We just felt that anyone that has achieved what Celeste has done in her career, why wait five, six, seven years down the road to retire her jersey," ECSU athletic director T.J. Little said.
Little went on to explain that the retired number club is small for a reason.
"Maybe (others) will eventually come and get their names up there, but right now we have the criteria so high, because if we don't have a high criteria, then pretty soon we will run out of numbers," Little joked.
Sunday's game against Virginia State was Lady Vikings' final home game, and over the past 109 games, Trahan has proved no other player after her could fill that uniform the same. The Stockton, Calif., native's statistics speak for themselves. She is the first woman in NCAA Division II history with 2,000 points and 1,500 rebounds.
"It's like you're here, but you're not here," said ECSU coach Antionette Carr, a Campbell alum who also was the first woman to have her number retired at her school. "It is really not going to hit her for a couple of days. She is just so excited now. It's hard to believe that you are being honored like that."
The nation's leading scorer and rebounder, Trahan did not play in the Lady Vikings' 60-57 victory against the Lady Trojans while nursing a sore knee. Her career totals stand at 2,151 points and 1,542 rebounds, with 85 double-doubles, and she is just two points shy of becoming ECSU's all-time leading scorer, male or female.
"Records were meant to be broken, and God bless her," said Trotman, who owns the men's record at 2,152 points. "I am happy that someone of her caliber came along to do it. I wish her the best. She's played four hard years here. She's carried this team for four years. She deserves it."
It will be difficult for the Lady Vikings to replace Trahan next year, but they will find a way to move on.
With her jersey hanging in the rafters at the R.L. Vaughan Center, Trahan always will be remembered as one of the best ever.
http://www.dailyadvance.com/local/content/sports/stories/2008/02/18/0218Trahan.html
