Terry Cummings
Chicago Native receives one of DePaul’s highest honors
DePaul University will retire one of its most celebrated alumni’s jersey this weekend – NBA Great & Chicago Native, Terry Cummings. This prestigious honor will take place February 24th at the home of Blue Demons basketball – Wintrust Arena – during halftime of the 5pm DePaul/Georgetown game.
Cummings left an indelible mark on the DePaul basketball program. In three short seasons, Cummings tallied nearly 1,400 points, 850+ total rebounds, 140+ assists and more than 110 blocks. His 850+ career rebounds is still among the Top-10 in DePaul history. Cummings was the 2nd overall pick in the 1982 NBA Draft. Cummings comes from humble beginnings, having grown up on the mean streets in the Roseland area, along with 12 brothers & sisters. It wasn’t easy for the 6’9 gentle giant. Took a lot to stay on the straight and narrow.
“The Lord blessed me with an incredible career. This is a very special honor for me. DePaul is where I became a man and laid the building blocks for a successful 18-year NBA career. I’m excited to celebrate with DePaul, its staff, student body and the best fans in college basketball,” he chuckled. “I just hope I made them as proud of me as I am to be a Blue Demon,” said the Chicago native about the award. “It’s a very sweet honor. Being from the rough & tumble south side of Chicago, Roseland wasn’t necessarily an easy place. I had to stay focused. Lots of things come at you & tried to get me, that’s for sure. I made it,” Cummings reflected.
Cummings went on to enjoy an illustrious 18-year NBA career which included being named the 1983 NBA Rookie of the Year, NBA All-Rookie First Team, two-time NBA All-Star and three All-NBA honors. He scored almost 20,000 career points, 8,630 career rebounds and 1,255 career steals during his pro career. As of December 2022, his career points rank him 57th on the Top 100 scorers in NBA history!
Cummings becomes only the third player in DePaul’s history to have his jersey retired. Fellow alum Mark Aguirre’s #24 and George Mikan’s #99 are the only players to have their jersey numbers retired in program history. Cummings was inducted into DePaul Athletics’ Hall of Fame in 2004.
