Former Gophers big man great Randy Breuer will live forever in the rafters of Williams Arena starting on Saturday. The Gophers will retire his No. 45 jersey at halftime of their game against Illinois.

Breuer, 7’2″, the pride of Lake City, Minnesota, turned down numerous offers to play for the Gophers in the early 1980s. He led the Gophers to the 1982 Big Ten championship, and statistically, ranks near the top in many categories in Gophers history. He went on to a lengthy NBA career with the Bucks, Timberwolves, Hawks, and Kings.

Breuer never got his degree from Minnesota, so previous athletic directors wouldn’t allow Saturday’s ceremony to take place. New AD Norwood Teague did the logical thing and gave the go-ahead for something that should’ve taken place years ago.

KSTP’s Darren Wolfson sat down recently with Breuer, and his former coach, Jim Dutcher. Dutcher is a huge reason why the ceremony is happening. Click on the video box above to see the story that aired on 5-Eyewitness News Thursday night.

This story was originally published back on Jan. 23, 2015.