DETROIT (2/12/2017) -- Over the weekend, the jerseys that hang for men's basketball in the Calihan Hall rafters grew to seven as Terry Duerod will be forever remembered when you walk into the historic arena.
He follows Bob Calihan, Dave DeBusschere, Spencer Haywood, John Long, Rashad Phillips and Terry Tyler as Titans with their jersey retired.
Duerod – known as "Sweet Doo" to the Titan community – was one of the best pure shooters in school history as well as in the collegiate game during his time wearing the red, white and blue from 1975-79.
"He is certainly deserving, no doubt about that," said Dick Vitale, who recruited and coached Duerod in his first two seasons. "He was really a tremendous player and more than a jump shooter. He handled the ball really well and defended, and he played to win."
He ended his career with 1,690 points, fourth when he graduated and still sixth all-time in school history. In 111 career games, he averaged 15.2 points and is among the top 10 career leaders in field goals (third with 790) and field goal attempts (fourth with 1,542).
"As a kid, you see that happen and you never think that will happen to you," Duerod told Tony Paul of the Detroit News. "That's like a dream. I'm still dreaming."
As a senior, he was tabbed an All-American after averaging 23.3 points, seventh in school history at the time and ninth today. He posted a school record with 303 field goals, while his 23.3 points rank eighth in the school record book. His 47-point outburst against CCNY on Feb. 10, 1979, is still the second-best single game performance of any Titan.
And all of that was done without the three-point line.
"His range as a shooter was really unique and I said this on national television, if the three-point line was there, with him and John Long, it would have been unbelievable and no team could have played us," said Vitale.
During his time, he helped lead the Titans to one of their best runs in school history as U-D went 91-22 with three trips to the postseason. The Titans made the NCAA Tournament in 1977 and 1979 and the NIT in 1978.
In 1977, the Titans won their first-round game in the NCAA Tournament, 93-76, over Middle Tennessee State before falling to Michigan, 86-81, a game that many thought could have been for the national championship itself. During the year, the Titans went on the road and defeated eventual national champion Marquette, and ended the season ranked No. 12.
"He was one of the best not only as a Titan, but just as a player coming out of the city," said former teammate Earl Cureton. "You just have to know about his background, how he grew up, what he went through and to put all that behind him, go to college and succeed in life, there is no better man to recognize than Terry."
He was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the third round (48th overall) in 1979 and played in 143 career games in the NBA over four seasons. He averaged 9.3 points per game and shot 47.2 percent from the field during his rookie campaign for the Pistons. He later played for the Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors, winning a NBA championship with Boston in 1981.
When his time playing professional basketball was over, the pride of Highland Park began a 27-year career serving as a firefighter in Detroit, a career that he retired from in 2016. On the same night he got his jersey retired, he received a proclamation from the city of Highland Park.
"People need to understand what he did with his life, helping others, extending a hand, he retired as a firefighter and did something positive for the community and to me, that is what it is about," said Vitale.
He was inducted into the Titan Hall Of Fame in 1993 and received the John Conti Letterman of Distinction Award from the Department of Athletics in 2016.
