Hey, you know who else wore #5? Recently, even?
And just a quick refresher from Iowa's athletic department:
Woolridge was a first team All-Big Ten and third team All-American by the Associated Press his senior season. He averaged 20.2 points and six assists per game and became the first player to ever lead the Big Ten in both scoring and assists in the same season. Woolridge distributed 193 assists in 1996 and 192 in 1997, which rank first and second, respectively, on Iowa's single-season assists list.
So while I have absolutely no qualms with Iowa's #5 jersey becoming a mark of honor, like with Michigan football granting the #1 jersey to its top wide receivers, I beg of you this request: do not ask for the number to be retired, because if you want that number raised to the rafters, then we're necessarily going to have to start choosing sides between Andre Woolridge and Matt Gatens (and, if you demand a third-party candidate, I guess Jared Reiner?), and that is a civil war that nobody can possibly win. Let's not force ourselves to think even comparatively negative things about either of these players--both absolute titans of the black and gold--if we don't have to, okay?