Nate Green's No. 4 heading to Hulman Center rafters

The Indiana State University athletic department announced Tuesday morning that former Sycamore basketball player Nate Green of Terre Haute will have his No. 4 jersey retired.

Green, who played for ISU from 1996 to 2000, was the first player to earn Most Valuable Player recognition from the Missouri Valley Conference as a first-team member of the All-Conference team. At the same time, he also was MVP as a first-team member of the All-Defensive team.

He’ll be the sixth men’s basketball player and eighth basketball player overall to receive the honor. Green joins Larry Bird (33), Duane Klueh (54), Carl Nicks (22), John Sherman Williams (44), Jerry Newsom (41), Amy Hile (15), Melanie Boeglin (22) and Barbara Graves (20). The Sycamore guard will be honored prior to the Dec. 6 men’s game against Southern Indiana inside Hulman Center.

ISU athletic director Nathan Christensen said Green’s jersey retirement is a celebration of one of the greatest careers in Indiana State basketball history.

“His leadership, competitiveness and commitment to excellence helped define a championship era for our program,” Christensen said. “To this day, Nate remains the only Sycamore other than Larry Bird to earn Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year honors, placing him among the most accomplished players to ever represent Indiana State.

“We are honored to recognize his remarkable achievements and welcome him into this distinguished group of Sycamore legends.”

A native of Des Moines, Iowa, Green has or shares several ISU records, including career steals (240), steals in a season (92 in 1999-2000) and average steals per game in a season (2.9 in 1999-2000). He also tied the single-game school record with eight steals against Eastern Illinois on Dec. 19, 1999. Green is fourth in career blocks (109) and fourth in career assists (496).

After his time in Terre Haute, Green went on to play professionally for nine years in a few different spots.

He played a year for the now-defunct Canberra Cannons (2000-2001) in the National Basketball League-Australia, where he was named team captain in his first year of professional experience. He then played in the then NBA Development League for the North Charleston Lowgaters (2001-2002) and Columbus Riverdragons (2002-2003) and made it to the NBDL Finals in 2002.

Green also has European experience in the Italian National Basketball League, where he was a four-time team captain nomination as selected by his peers. He was named the defensive MVP twice and winner of two prestigious titles, the European Super Cup and the Italian Cup.

Green, 48, just finished his seventh season in the NBA as a game official. He officiated four seasons in the NBA G-League, including the 2019 Finals prior to making his debut in the NBA. His officiating experience also includes six years in college basketball (ACC, Atlantic 10, SEC and American conferences) and five years at the high school level in Indiana.