A Night of Nostalgia as Mizzou finally honors Derrick Chievous
Nearly thirty-four years ago, Derrick Chievous arrived in Columbia, Mo. from Jamaica, NY, a self-described “alien” in mid-Missouri.
“When I came off the plane here, there was a lot of people that opened their arms to me,” he said. “The things I did and the things I said, people looked at me like, ‘This dude is…’ Even some of my teammates was like, ‘Oh, this dude.’ For them to open their hearts and their housing and their arms to me, it’s just been a blessing.”
On Tuesday night, Chievous finally saw his No. 3 unveiled in the rafters alongside some of the other greats of Missouri basketball. The 2,580 points Chievous scored are a school record unlikely ever to be broken, in large part because anyone good enough to do it (it would take a four-year average of more than 17 points per game on teams that played in the postseason every year) doesn’t stay in college that long anymore.
The honor for Chievous was 31 years in the making. He made brief reference to his lifelong friend Sally Nichols being unhappy back in 1988, possibly because Mizzou didn’t retire his number back then, following the final home game of his illustrious career. But Tuesday wasn’t a night for revealing long-standing wounds. Instead it was a night for nostalgia and celebrating one of the best to ever wear the black and gold.
“When I chose a school, I knew I wasn’t going back to New York,” Chievous said. “I had to find somewhere I could live and could set up shop and I was blessed to meet some important people that are still in my life.”
Sophie Cunningham—who currently wears No. 3 and is on pace to set the Missouri women’s scoring record—presented Chievous with a signed jersey at his request.
“Everybody knows who you are,” Chievous joked.
Despite his insistence to the contrary, most of them know who Chievous is too. At least most of them of a certain age.
For three decades, the Band-Aid man has stayed out of the public eye, despite making Columbia his home. He rarely attends games and isn’t as visible as most legends would be in a town the size of Columbia. That’s entirely by design.
“A lot of people don’t know I live here,” he said. “That’s a beautiful thing to be in a place and still be yourself and be in the community, but be like a solar eclipse. Seldom seen.”
But for one night, Chievous endured the glare of the spotlight. He flew his high school coach in for the game. All but one of his children was here. Chievous briefly addressed the crowd and met with reporters afterward, not necessarily wanting to revel in the spotlight, but not being able to avoid it.
That Chievous was honored on a night where Mizzou Arena was a little more than half full (partly because of the weather and partly because that’s kind of standard these days) didn’t seem right. Many of those in attendance probably didn’t know much about him or about what Missouri basketball was before, during and after his time here.
Starting with the 1979-80 season, when Steve Stipanovich and Jon Sundvold arrived, through 1991-92 when Anthony Peeler graduated, Missouri won 20 games 11 times, won the Big Eight six times and made 10 NCAA Tournament appearances. Over 13 seasons, the Tigers won 71% of their games. It was the Golden Age of the program and it lasted for more than a decade.
Those days seem distant now. This will be the 25th consecutive season without a conference title. At the end of the year, barring a miracle run in the SEC Tournament, the Tigers will have missed more NCAA Tournaments (13) than they have made (12). There have been two 30-win seasons and two Elite Eights, but success has been fleeting and never sustained.
Chievous thinks Missouri might have the man in charge who can change that now. Cuonzo Martin coached his oldest son, Quinton, at Tennessee. The two knew each other well before that as Chievous’ uncle owned a club in East St. Louis. Chievous said he used to watch Martin and LaPhonso Ellis play in high school.
“When Mr. Sterk brought him in, I had told him I don’t really come out that much, man, but whatever you need from me, I’ll be there like footsteps,” Chievous said. “He’s gonna get everything right and put the product on the floor to actually get the fans back in here to see something that you’ll be proud of. That’s what I’m banking on.”
Whether--and how soon--success of days gone by returns to Mizzou basketball remains to be seen. What is not up for debate is that there will never be another Tiger quite like Derrick Chievous.