1) What are the “official” criteria for a VT player to have his/her jersey retired? Do you know what it takes to modify the criteria? Obviously, I’m thinking about Liz Kitley. If it’s not included, I would think that they could add multiple conference player of the year winner and/or multiple All-American awards. It can’t be single-time award winners as that happens too frequently. – VTScanlo

Chris Coleman: Officially, you must have won an established national award for your sport according to Tech’s page of retired numbers/jerseys. So, if you are a wide receiver for the football team, you need to win the Biletnikoff Award to have your jersey retired.

That rule changed in 2002. Had that rule been applied from the beginning of time, you could take a few names off the list. I don’t think Carroll Dale ever won a national award. Likewise, I’m not sure that any of the four men’s basketball players ever won a national award. So, if Liz Kitley had played before 2002, she could have had her jersey honored, or her number retired, without any difficulty at all.

There is a committee that decides on such things, but I don’t know who is on the committee. I’m not sure if there is a document that governs the rules or any possible rule changes. But what I do know is that the powers at be at Virginia Tech are very aware that Kitley deserves her jersey to hang from the rafters in Cassell Coliseum, and they aren’t going to let some silly little thing called “rules” stop them from doing it. They’ll either change the rules, or they’ll find a way to grant a one-time exception to the rules.

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