GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 28, ISSUE 6 68
That decree put Itin in an interesting position of having
to spend someone else's money, even if Brees has a consid-
erable amount. That might have been uncomfortable for
many, but Itin has had a long friendship with Brees and
knew he was covered.
"Drew and I were in constant contact during the pro-
cess," Itin said. "There weren't any worries there. But it
escalated in a hurry in the closing hours of the auction. I
put in a bid for $100,000, and moments later, there was a
bid from someone else for $150,000."
When the bidding reached $200,000, Itin didn't flinch.
Neither did Brees.
"Do what it takes," Brees instructed Itin once again.
And the duo calmly stayed in the pocket, so to speak,
and submitted the winning bid of $220,000. With fees to
Heritage Auctions, the total came to $264,000.
"To be honest, Drew and I never discussed what we
would do had the bidding continued to escalate," Itin said.
"At that point, we weren't thinking about the money, it be-
came a competition."
It is hard to find two more competitive people than Brees
in football (and just about everything else) and Itin in sports
items.
Itin has no concerns that the jersey is real. Memorabil-
ia Evaluation and Research Services (MEARS), a leading
sports memorabilia evaluation company, authenticated the
jersey, which experts believe is the only one of its kind.
The now-former owner of the item, John Neff of
Guerneville, Calif., received the jersey following the death
of his grandfather, Frank. Frank attended Purdue at the
same time as Wooden, and the two remained in touch
through the years. According to the Neff family, Wooden
gave Frank the jersey.
Itin would have loved to have had the jersey in his
restaurant but knows it belongs in Mackey Arena.
"I am not sure how it will be displayed, but I envision it
on a rotating display so people can see the jersey from all
sides," Itin said. "It is the number (13) on the back that
needs to be seen, too. It is part of what makes it rare for
that time and such an important part of Purdue's basket-
ball heritage."
With Wooden's uniform secured, what is next for Itin's
search of rare Purdue sports artifacts?
"I would still love to find the trophy for the 1932 nation-
al championship," he said of the Boilermakers' mythical
national title in Wooden's senior year. "I believe there is
something out there, but it hasn't come forward yet."
Itin knows full well that anything is possible though,
because he was fast losing hope that the Wooden jersey
would ever be found.
"You just never know," Itin said.
j
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