Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf

The LSU Athletic Hall of Fame Election Board in July 2019 unanimously approved the jersey retirement of LSU men’s basketball All-American Mahmoud AbdulRauf.

The ceremony took place in 2020 with many former teammates and Coach Dale Brown looking on.

The No. 35 worn by Abdul-Rauf, who was known as Chris Jackson during his LSU playing career as the Tigers’ point guard, joined the No. 50 worn by Bob Pettit, the No. 23 worn by Pete Maravich, the No. 40 worn by Rudy Macklin and the No. 33 worn by Shaquille O’Neal as retired jerseys in the LSU men’s basketball program.

Abdul-Rauf, a native of Gulfport, Miss., became the 14th LSU athlete or coach to have his/her jersey retired, joining Pettit, Maravich, Macklin and O’Neal; football players Billy Cannon, Tommy Casanova and Jerry Stovall; women’s basketball players Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles; baseball coach Skip Bertman and baseball players Ben McDonald, Eddy Furniss and Todd Walker.

“By a unanimous decision, Mahmoud now joins one of the most elite groups in college basketball - the five men’s basketball players whose jerseys LSU has retired,” said LSU Director of Athletics Scott Woodward. “He’s one of the greatest of all time at LSU and incredibly deserving of this honor.”

Abdul-Rauf was named a first-team All-American in 1989 and 1990, becoming in 1989 just the second freshman to receive first-team All-America recognition from the Associated Press. He averaged 30.2 points per game during the 1988-89 season, and he is still the only freshman in college basketball history to average over 30 points per game.

Abdul-Rauf was a two-time consensus SEC Player of the Year, and he scored in double figures in 63 of his 64 games at LSU, including over 20 points 52 times, over 30 points 28 times, over 40 points 11 times and over 50 points four times.

At the end of his collegiate career, he held the LSU all-time record for most threepoint field goals made (172), and he still holds the school single-season mark for highest free-throw percentage (91 percent).

In two years he scored 1,854 points, eighth all-time at LSU in career scoring and the most points scored by any player who played just two seasons at LSU. He had 232 assists and 107 steals, averaging 3.6 assists in 64 career games.

Abdul-Rauf was the third overall pick in the 1990 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets , and he played in the league for nine seasons with the Nuggets, the Sacramento Kings and the Vancouver Grizzlies. He twice led the NBA in free throw percentage, and he voted the league’s Most Improved Player in 1993.

After his NBA career concluded in 2001, Abdul-Rauf continued to compete in multiple leagues around the world, and he currently plays in the BIG3 three-on-three professional basketball league that is headquartered in Los Angeles.

He played, 586 games in the NBA, averaging 14.6 points for his career and 3.5 assists per game.

Even as he passed age 50, Abdul-Rauf has continued to dazzel in the BIG3, leading his team to the title game in 2017 and 2021 and a third place finish in 2018 and 2019.

LSU All-American 1989, 1990

SEC Player of the Year 1989, 1990

SEC Basketball Tournament Living Legend -- 20142014

USBWA National Freshman of the Year 1989

Member LSU All-Century Team 2009

LABC Pete Maravich Award 1989, 1990

LABC Hall of Fame 1998

No. 3 Pick In NBA Draft 1990

NBA All-Rookie Team 1991

Jersey Retired 2020

La. Sports Hall of Fame 2021

Abdul-Rauf’s Career Statistics

YEAR G MIN-AVG FG-FGA PCT. 3FG-FGA PCT. FT-FTA PCT. REB-AVG. PF A PTS-AVG. 1988-89 32 1180-36.9 359-739 .486 84-216 .389 163-200 .815 108-3.4 70 130 965-30.2 1989-90 32 1202-37.6 305-662 .461 88-246 .358 191-210 .910 81-2.5 66 102 889-27.8 TOTALS 64 2382-37.2 664-1401 .474 172-462 .372 354-410 .863 189-3.0 136 232 1854-29.0