Rutgers Welcomes Eddie Jordan
It was a kumbaya moment. Actually it was a series of moments. The Eddie Jordan press conference at Rutgers on Tuesday bridged the gap between players from the undefeated regular season team of 1976 and a number of players from the disgraced Mike Rice era who will stay on and play at Rutgers for the former NBA coach.
Eddie hit a homerun in his first Rutgers outing since 1991 when he was an assistant coach under Bob Wenzel on Rutgers last NCAA team. Fittingly, the event took place at the College Avenue Barn, the site of where the 1975-1976 team played and the very site where they defeated St. Bonaventure in 1976 to clinch the undefeated season. Jordan was the point guard on a team led by All-American Phil Sellers, and Jordan remains the all-time leading assist leader at his alma mater.
Jordan played for the Los Angeles Lakers and won a championship ring. He coached three NBA teams and, until recently, was an assistant for the Lakers. He credits much of his basketball knowledge from his Rutgers coach, Tom Young and one of his NBA assistant's and former Princeton coach Pete Carril. Jordan didn't have much time to relax after the press conference as he was off to pay a home visit to one of the few quality unsigned high school players in the area.
