Only four University of Evansville basketball players have earned the ultimate honor­ from UE: the retirement of their jersey. The fifth comes Saturday when the late Ed Smallwood will have his jersey retired in a pre-game ceremony at Roberts Stadium. It will take place at 6:50 CST, prior to the Aces’ game at 7:05 against 10th ranked Butler.

Don Buse, Gus Doerner, Larry Humes and Jerry Sloan are the only other players with replicas of their uniforms hanging in the rafters of Roberts Stadium. Regarded just as highly as those Aces’ greats is Smallwood, a 6’4”, 200-pound scoring and rebounding standout from Louisville, Ky. who was largely responsible for the first two of Evansville’s five NCAA College Division national championships, in 1959 and 1960. In addition to guiding the Aces to a pair of national titles, Smallwood scored 1,898 points in just three seasons and led Coach Arad McCutchan’s teams to a record of 69-14. He is the third leading scorer in Evansville history, surpassed only by Larry Humes (2,236) in 1966 and Marcus Wilson (2,053) in 1999. He is also the third leading rebounder in school history at 11.9 per game.

Although Evansville played in the NCAA College Division, teams that the Aces beat during Smallwood’s three-year career included Louisville, UCLA, Western Kentucky, DePaul and Notre Dame.

“There was no telling how many points Ed would have scored if we had the three-point shot,” says Hugh Ahlering, his close friend, and fellow All-American who was Smallwood's teammate for two seasons. “If we were struggling, Ed would hit a shot from the corner and ignite the fans, and we’d get going. Or he’d go inside and grab a big rebound. Ed made the game easier for the rest of us because teams concentrated so much on him.

“But what I remember best about Ed is that he was a good person and a good friend. The sportswriters wrote a lot about Ed and he scored a lot of points, but he didn’t get caught up in that stuff. He was a great team player. Ed was the only black player on the team, and there were times we would go into a restaurant and Ed wouldn’t get served. We’d all get up and leave if that happened. We were a close team, and I was proud to play with him.”

In his first year on the varsity, as a sophomore in 1957-58, Smallwood led the 23-4 Aces in scoring at 23.5 per game and in rebounding at 12.9. His rookie season came to an end with a 41-point, 22-rebound game in the NCAA Tournament against Wheaton College. Smallwood was chosen as Indiana Collegiate Conference Player of the Year, and his 635 points set a school record for single-season scoring. One year later, Smallwood earned AP and UPI Little All-America honors as a junior in leading the 1958-59 team to a 25-4 record and five consecutive NCAA Tournament victories, culminating with an 83-67 win over Missouri State in the championship game. As a senior in 1959-60, Smallwood averaged 26.1 points and 12 rebounds, again was chosen as ICC Player of the Year, and again earned AP and UPI Little All-America honors. He capped off his career as Most Valuable Player of the NCAA College Division Finals, leading the Aces to a 21-point victory over Chapman College in the championship game.

Smallwood will be represented at the ceremony Saturday evening by his son, Ed Smallwood, Jr., and by ‘Mac’s Boys,’ a group of men who played for McCutchan during his 31 years as the Aces’ head coach from 1946 to 1977.