Mike Rice’s loss appears to be Eddie Jordan’s gain.
According to CSN Washington’s Chick Hernandez, Jordan is going to be the next head basketball coach at Rutgers.
The Rutgers job became available after Rice was fired in the wake of practice videos showing his abusive behavior towards his players went viral. There was tremendous backlash for Rice, and both he and athletic director Tim Pernetti were let go because of the scandal.
If Jordan accepts the job, he would be leaving his post as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers. The fit seems natural.
Jordan played at Rutgers in the ’70s and led the Scarlet Knights to the 1976 Final Four. After playing seven seasons in the NBA, he got into coaching as a volunteer assistant at Rutgers. He has served as a head coach of the Sacramento Kings, Washington Wizards, and Philadelphia 76ers during his head coaching career. He led the Wizards to the playoffs four straight seasons.
Jordan was also in consideration for the Rutgers job in 2010 but pulled out to remain in the NBA. The job went to Rice.
Jordan comes into a program that doesn’t have too high of expectations, and he should be energized to turn it around now that he’s getting another opportunity to be a head coach. He’ll have difficulties competing in the Big Ten and probably will be a bottom half team in the conference, but at least he won’t embarrass the school.
