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Eddie Jordan offers Rutgers a fresh start

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - It is a marriage made somewhere south of heaven, miles closer to the hell that Rutgers University has been through this year.

Rutgers' desperate need for a friendly new face is Eddie Jordan's immense good fortune. (Mel Evans/AP)
Rutgers' desperate need for a friendly new face is Eddie Jordan's immense good fortune. (Mel Evans/AP)Read more

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - It is a marriage made somewhere south of heaven, miles closer to the hell that Rutgers University has been through this year.

That explains the standing ovation Eddie Jordan received when he was introduced at a Tuesday afternoon news conference in the Barn - the very gym where he played for the Scarlet Knights in the mid-1970s. It also explains the nagging feeling that the ovation was the biggest cheer Jordan will get on a basketball court anytime soon.

Maybe that's not fair. Maybe it is a lingering perception from Jordan's last head coaching stint. In case you've succeeded in blocking that out, he spent exactly one season in charge of the 76ers. Let's just say Jordan proved unequal to the task.

The Sixers moved on, hiring Doug Collins. Jordan moved on, applying and interviewing for the head coaching job at his alma mater.

"I wanted to be at Rutgers 10 years ago; I wanted to be here three years ago," Jordan said.

It is safe to say Rutgers wishes beyond wishing that the athletic director at the time, Tim Pernetti, had chosen Jordan over Mike Rice. Jordan might not have done better than Rice's 15-16 record this past season, but he certainly would not have dragged the university through the embarrassment and trauma brought on by Rice's vile coaching tactics.

Pernetti was fired, following Rice out the door for not showing him the door soon enough. Rutgers president Robert Barchi weathered the storm, but alluded to the chaos when he stepped to the podium here.

"This is the most fun I've had in front of TV cameras in a month," Barchi said.

His desperate need for a friendly new face is Jordan's immense good fortune. The school needed a familiar smile more than it needed a great coach. Jordan, one of the stars from the school's 1976 Final Four team, fit the bill.

So, at 58, he steps into a five-year contract worth a guaranteed $6.25 million, and his only real mandate is to not be the worst human being in college sports.

Eventually, Rutgers will need to compete as it moves into the Big Ten. For now, it needs to rebrand itself. If his Sixers tenure meant anything, Jordan is significantly more qualified for the latter task than the former.

"Winning is always in the equation," Jordan said. "Not just healing, not just relationships, not just getting the program back, but winning."

He told a story related to him by Jim Lynam, who was Jordan's assistant with the Nets and Sixers. Back when he was the St. Joseph's coach, Lynam was preparing to play Temple. At breakfast in a hotel restaurant, a friend was trying to persuade Lynam that his Hawks were ready to upset the Owls.

"You don't understand what I'm up against here," Lynam said. As the men spoke, John Chaney walked into the restaurant.

"Every coach in the room stood up," Jordan said. "They all sat down when Coach Chaney sat down."

His point was the importance of developing respect and building relationships. It is not a bad place for Jordan to start.

In the second row of chairs on the Barn's floor sat some of Jordan's teammates from 1976. But his real audience was in the front row, the scarlet-and-white-clad players who must decide whether to stay or transfer.

It was for their benefit that Jordan dropped names of NBA players he has coached: Gilbert Arenas and Kenyon Martin and, as an assistant with the Lakers this year, a certain guy from Lower Merion High.

"I even said a few things to Kobe Bryant without him snapping my head off," Jordan said. "That's a quality I possess. I understand what the NBA's about."

Along with the Big Ten's TV exposure, that will be the pitch - first to on-the-fence Rutgers players such as Jerome Seagears, then to future recruits. If it works, Jordan will have a chance to turn the program around.

Can he turn it into an elite basketball program? That's something he really hasn't done before, anywhere he's been. Jordan's winning percentage in three NBA stops is .428.

"I'm 0-0 right now," Jordan said, smiling as if he, too, suspected it might not get any better than this.