CHAMPAIGN, Ill.- Jeff Jordan came to Illinois without much more than a famous name.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill.- Jeff Jordan came to Illinois without much more than a famous name.
His talent didn’t earn him a scholarship, and there were few, if any, on-court expectations.
Illinois fans called Jordan’s arrival two years ago a nice story – legend’s son picks Illinois – and wondered how often his dad might catch a game at Assembly Hall.
But people who’ve known Jordan since he stepped on the court at Loyola Academy in Chicago’s north suburbs say he brought something else with him south to Champaign – a chip on his shoulder.
“I know it was a stretch for him to go to the University of Illinois,” said Patrick Mahoney, athletic director at the Wilmette, Ill., prep school. “I know he did that to prove to everybody he could play Division I at a big-time school.”
Now, as Jordan finishes up his sophomore year – with scholarship in hand – the departure of Illinois tough-guy guard Chester Frazier is creating an opening. Coach Bruce Weber says it’s one that Michael Jordan’s oldest son could help fill if he puts in the work.
“He’s got to really make a decision,” Weber said. “Does he want to make another giant step this summer? I told him he could be a 20-, 25-minute guy.”
Weber has said something similar every year about Jordan. The coach talked in Jordan’s freshman year about how the young guard needed to find a niche to fill, then before the season that just ended about how he needed to work to push beyond the four or five minutes a game he’d carved out for himself.
So far, he’s cleared every hurdle Weber has pointed him toward. Jordan played 5.3 minutes in 26 games as a freshman walk-on. This past season, he bumped those numbers up to 8.4 minutes and 33 games. He was one of three reserves in Weber’s regular rotation.
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