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It has been so long since Arnie Ferrin played college basketball for the Utah Utes that "you don't get up every morning and think about it."
Which is what made Tuesday so enjoyable for him.
The four-time All-American was among 16 players the Utes named to the All-Century Team that they will honor in a ceremony at halftime of their game against San Diego State at the Huntsman Center on Saturday - giving the former athletic director another reason to recall his wonderful playing days in the 1940s.
"It's so flattering," Ferrin said, "particularly for it being so long ago that we played."
All-time leading scorer Keith Van Horn, all-time leading rebounder Billy McGill, Andre Miller, Andrew Bogut, Vern Gardner and Danny Vranes also were among the honorees - all of them have had their jerseys retired - along with Jerry Chambers, Tom Chambers, Mike Doleac, Josh Grant, Alex Jensen, Jeff Jonas, Jeff Judkins, Bill Kinner and Mike Newlin.
"That's an honor," McGill said. "I mean, 100 years. . . . That's great. One of the 16, and you know how many have come and gone."
Fans voted for the team after a committee that included athletic director Chris Hill, former broadcaster Bill Marcroft and longtime sports information director Bruce Woodbury created a list of 34 nominees - which might have somewhat favored more recent players.
Eleven of the 16 men on the team played in the last 40 years.
In any case, the All-Century teammates and dozens of other former players will commemorate 100 years of basketball at the university at a banquet Friday night and the ceremony Saturday - and Ferrin said he's planning a reunion of his historic 1944 team after the game, as well.
"It's really special for us," he said.
Only nine players (without scholarships) comprised the team that won the NCAA Tournament after being eliminated from the NIT - most students were being drafted to fight in World War II - and Ferrin said they used to reunite every five years to reminisce and tell stories about "how much better we were than people remember."
But three of the players have died, and three others live in California, so that tradition has faded away.
Until now.
"It was sad because we only got to play together for one season" because of the war, Ferrin recalled. "But it's a fun story."
Utah's best of the best
Player Career
Andrew Bogut 2005-06
Arnie Ferrin 1943-45/47-48
Billy McGill 1959-62
Andre Miller 1995-99
Keith Van Horn 1993-97
Jerry Chambers 1963-66
Tom Chambers 1977-81
Michael Doleac 1994-98
Vern Gardner* 1945-49
Alex Jensen 1995/98-00
Josh Grant 1988-93
Jeff Judkins 1974-78
Jeff Jonas 1973-77
Bill Kinner* 1932-36
Mike Newlin 1968-71
Danny Vranes 1977-81
* - deceased