BOSTON (AP) - Boston College retired the jersey of former two-time All-American guard Troy Bell on Saturday afternoon at halftime of its game against Virginia Tech.
Bell, who played for the Eagles from 1999-2003, remains the school’s all-time leading scorer (2,632 points) and was an All-American in 2001 and ’03. He’s also still the all-time leader in 3-pointers made.
“I never envisioned this moment,” he said at a morning press conference, standing on the court. “I had great teammates and coaches. We were having a great time, doing something we would have done for free. To be here and being honored is amazing.”
He was joined on the court by his former coach Al Skinner, the school’s all-time leader in wins, who got a loud ovation when they showed him on the video board seated courtside earlier in the game.
Bell thanked the crowd “even the ones that aren’t old enough to remember me.”
Before closing with: “Let’s get a win, go Eagles!”
For the period of 1999-2003, Bell led all of college basketball, averaging 21.6 points per game. He was the Big East rookie of the year in 1999-2000 and captured the MVP award in the league’s 2001 postseason tourney, carrying BC to the championship.
“There’s so many good memories and good moments,” he said. “The best memories are when you actually win something. Winning a Big East tournament was huge.”
Bell did say that there was one person that he wished could have been here to watch a banner with his name on it go up into the rafters in the west end of the building.
“The only thing I wish, I wish my dad could have been around. My dad passed like a year and a half ago,” he said. “We’re just going to try and take it all in and party it up for my dad, because I know my dad would be the proudest out of everybody.”
The Eagles left the Big East for the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2005.
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