By Alex Faust, News Staff

In the rafters at Matthews Arena hangs only one retired number – 35. Reggie Lewis, the kid from Baltimore who carried Northeastern to four NCAA tournament appearances and endeared himself to the city of Boston with his infectious enthusiasm as a member of the Celtics.

For some reason or another, retiring other numbers has been sacrilegious to Northeastern’s athletic department. We have no retired numbers for hockey and only one for baseball. As Northeastern fans, we may not hold our few athletic accomplishments in high regard, but we should embrace our history and share it with a new generation.

This past May, Northeastern took a step in the right direction with the dedication of the late Greg Montalbano’s No. 30 at Friedman Diamond. Montalbano was a dominant starting pitcher with the Huskies in the late 1990s, and a good friend and teammate of Carlos Peña (now a first baseman with the Chicago Cubs).

The two jersey retirements have been done posthumously, which is unfortunate. I propose that Northeastern goes a step further.

We can start by retiring Jose Juan Barea’s No. 5 this coming season.

By now you know of his exploits in a Dallas Mavericks jersey this NBA postseason, but set aside Barea’s accomplishments as a member of the Mavs and look strictly at what he did while wearing the red and black. Barea is second all-time in points scored and free-throws made (behind Reggie Lewis), assists (behind Andre LaFleur – one of Lewis’ teammates), and holds the all-time record in 3-point field goals made. In the Huskies’ first year as members of the CAA, he was key to the team’s run to the conference semifinals and ultimately a berth in the NIT.

Now take into consideration how Barea has been able to adapt his game to the NBA and become one of the Mavericks’ key players in their run to the NBA Finals. Barea has earned high praise for his tenacious and pesky game this postseason, especially in the Mavs’ series victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. In Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Barea was given a starting role, becoming the first Northeastern alumnus to start a game in the NBA Finals.

Now, add to this Barea’s most impressive feat yet: he’s dating Zuleyka Rivera, who was Miss Universe in 2006.

Can you imagine the marketing opportunities for bringing this guy back to campus? Barea is a Huskies legend in his own right, but throw in a former Miss Universe, and perhaps an NBA championship trophy? You’d have to be crazy not to pursue this. I can almost guarantee that you’ll get one of the best crowds all year for that game.

So, why stop there? Why is it so far-fetched to honor Carlos Peña as well? The university has done well to reach out to Carlos and scheduled the ceremony to retire Montalbano’s number on a weekend when Peña’s
Cubs were in town to play the Red Sox. Later in the month, Peña attended an alumni event in Chicago. I hope that this is the beginning of a long relationship and a way to re-energize NU baseball alumni.

We should be taking full advantage of the chance to associate ourselves with successful alumni. I know it pains the university to acknowledge guys who left school early, such as Peña, but that’s no excuse for not honoring successful alumni. It is a shame that it took so long to acknowledge guys like Barea and Peña post-grad.
As always, Northeastern has taken some steps in the right direction, but like anything else, it requires a commitment. One can only hope that they seize this ripe opportunity.