The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Former Men’s Basketball legend T.J. Ford participates in Spring 2017 Commencement
05.19.2017 | Men's Basketball
2003 National Player of the Year walks in UT’s College of Education ceremonies inside Gregory Gymnasium on Friday.
AUSTIN, Texas — Fourteen years after leading The University of Texas to the Final Four in 2003, former men's basketball star T.J. Ford walked across the stage inside historic Gregory Gymnasium on Friday afternoon to receive his bachelor's degree at the College of Education commencement exercises.
Ford, a Youth and Community Studies major who earned a minor in Educational Psychology, is among the 80 current or former UT student-athletes who are participating in commencement ceremonies on the Forty Acres this weekend.
A two-year starter at point guard for the Longhorns in 2001-02 and 2002-03, Ford led Texas to an appearance in the NCAA "Sweet 16" as a freshman while earning National Freshman of the Year honors by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). He became the first freshman in NCAA history to lead the nation in assists (8.27 apg) and claimed consensus Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year accolades.
During his sophomore campaign in 2002-03, Ford led the Longhorns to their first Final Four appearance since 1947 and won the Naismith and Wooden Awards as the top player in college basketball. He also garnered National Player of the Year recognition from Chevrolet, CBS SportsLine.com, ESPN.com, The Sporting News and Sports Illustrated. A consensus first-team All-American, he led the team in scoring (15.0 ppg), assists (7.7 apg), steals (2.0 spg), free throw percentage (.820) and minutes (33.6 mpg).
Ford finished his collegiate career in second place on UT's all-time career assists list (527) and held the top two single-season assists marks in school history (273 in 2001-02, 254 in 2002-03). He turned professional after his sophomore season and was selected as the eighth overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft.
The University of Texas officially retired his number 11 jersey on Feb. 8, 2004. Ford became the first UT basketball player and just the fourth athlete in University of Texas history at the time to have his jersey number retired, joining Earl Campbell (football), Ricky Williams (football) and Roger Clemens (baseball).