CLEVELAND — Cuyahoga Community College celebrated one of its most famous alums on Wednesday when the men's basketball team retired Hall of Famer Ben Wallace's jersey number.
Tri-C raised Wallace's No. 4 jersey into the rafters at the Metro Campus Recreation Center gymnasium at a ceremony during the Triceratops' men's and women's teams' doubleheader against Lakeland Community College. A native of Whitehall, Alabama, Wallace played for Tri-C during the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons, averaging 26 points, 17.0 rebounds and 6.9 blocks per game.
Following his two-year stint at Tri-C, Wallace transferred to Virginia Union, the alma mater of his mentor and Cleveland native, Charles Oakley. After earning Division II All-American honors, he went undrafted in the 1996 NBA Draft and briefly played professionally in Italy, before signing with the Washington Bullets.
The 6-foot-9 center would remain with Washington for three seasons before being traded to the Orlando Magic. After a season in Orlando, Wallace was traded to the Detroit Pistons as a part of the sign-and-trade deal that sent All-Star Grant Hill to the Magic.
In Detroit, Wallace flourished, becoming one of the best defensive players in the league. In six seasons with the Pistons, he earned four All-Star selections, three All-NBA second-team selections, two All-NBA third-team selections and was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year four times, tying Dikembe Mutombo for the most times a player has ever won the award.
In addition to leading the NBA in blocks in 2002 and rebounding in 2002 and 2003, Wallace served as the anchor of Detroit's defense during the 2003-04 season, which culminated with the Pistons defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. Following the 2005-06 season, he left Detroit to sign a four-year, $60 million contract with the Chicago Bulls.
Midway through a disappointing second season with the Bulls, Wallace returned to Cleveland after being acquired by the Cavaliers as a part of a massive three-team trade ahead of the 2008 NBA trade deadline. Over parts of two seasons in Cleveland, Wallace would average 3.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks while appearing in 78 regular season games before being traded to the Phoenix Suns as a part of the Cavs' package to acquire Shaquille O'Neal.
After being bought out by the Suns, Wallace would return to Detroit, spending the final three seasons of his 16-year career with the Pistons. In 2021, he was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, becoming the first player to have gone undrafted to do so.