Duke legend Danny Ferry's No. 35 has been retired by the school, but Ferry says he's fine with highly touted incoming freshman Marvin Bagley III donning a jersey with his old number this season.
"(Associate head coach) Jeff Capel and I had talked about it a while ago, at which time I offered and said I was totally fine with it at some point if they needed to use one of the retired jerseys," Ferry told The Herald-Sun. "I'm very proud my jersey will still be hanging in Cameron, but I'm most attached to what is best for Duke and the basketball program."
Bagley, the nation's No. 1 high school recruit from the class of 2018, said this week he will reclassify to the class of 2017 and play at Duke this season. He is the Blue Devils' third recent No. 1 recruit, following Harry Giles (2016) and Jahlil Okafor (2014).
"I would like to thank Danny Ferry and Coach K for allowing me to wear [Ferry's] retired No. 35 at Duke University," Bagley said on the set of SportsCenter on Tuesday.
Ferry won the Naismith Award in 1989 and played for the Blue Devils from 1985 through '89. Duke has retired 13 jerseys.
"Speaking pragmatically, with so many retired jerseys and the great tradition that hopefully continues, this was going to be an issue going forward for the school at some level," Ferry told The Herald-Sun. "For it being a high-quality player and a high-character kid, it certainly makes decisions like this easy."
