Well, the Jeffrey Jordan era is officially over at the University of Illinois.
Jordan, a rising senior and the son of Michael (in case you’ve missed every Illini game during the last three seasons), was granted his release from the program last Friday afternoon, allowing the southpaw to transfer to another university, possibly Central Florida where his younger brother Marcus plays.
With the Illini extremely deep at guard heading into the 2010-11 season, the hard-working but severely limited Jordan was expected to see a decline in his minutes.
However, given Head Coach Bruce Weber’s apparent fascination with Jordan and his short trigger with other players, who knows?
What is now certain is that the polarizing Jordan will not be around to take valuable minutes needed in the continued development of Brandon Paul and the integration of redshirt freshman Joseph Bertrand and incoming freshman Jereme Richmond and Crandall Head.
With Jordan gone, Weber is now finally forced to develop a backup point guard (expected to be Bertrand) to spell senior ironman Demetri McCamey, who was worked to the point of exhaustion by the end of last season.
No longer will Weber have Jordan to fall back on, to put the Illini at a 4-on-5 disadvantage on offense while hardly gaining an advantage on defense (despite the unfortunate hype portraying Jordan as the next Chester Frazier).
For Illinois fans, this is a good thing.
If there is one thing that must be seen this season, it’s the development of a deep bench (especially given the increased talent in Champaign-Urbana) rather than one where players waste away.
Jordan’s departure puts this pressure on Weber, who hasn’t had the talent in recent years but now does.
While Jordan certainly deserved finishing his career at U-of-I, playing before more qualified reserves could no longer be justified.
With that said, here are some thoughts on Jeff Jordan’s three years at Illinois.
● Being the son of the greatest basketball player of all time had its advantages and disadvantages.
- For Jeff Jordan, this meant being offered a preferred walk-on spot out of high school (meaning that he was not offered a scholarship but guaranteed a spot on the U-of-I basketball team). For nothing more than a mid-major prospect, Jordan was allowed to play college basketball at a higher level than his talent indicated. To Jordan’s credit, he did show that he could compete (in limited minutes) at the Big-10 level, ultimately earning a scholarship during his sophomore season. When having to play a lot of minutes, Jordan’s flaws were especially apparent, including his lack of confidence in hitting the outside shot and propensity to dribble the ball into the ground.
- Jordan’s name also made him the face of the Illini during the last three seasons. Besides the obligatory mention of his father at least once per game, Jordan was the perfect subject for local and national stories, along the common themes of “Jordan the heir-apparent defensive stopper” and “Jordan the valuable role player.” Once again, while Jordan was a respected and popular teammate (and valuable to the program), his impact on the defensive end was overstated, and the hype could be very frustrating to stomach at times.
- Of course, Jordan’s last name was also a curse. For those who do not follow the game closely, Jordan was unfairly expected by some to be like his father. Anyone who follows basketball knows that Jordan was at Illinois because of who his father was, not his ability. Once again, to Jordan’s credit, he generally represented himself well, as his own person, a good teammate and apparently an actual student-athlete concerned about getting his education (at least according to his decision to leave the team briefly after his sophomore season).
● Following the Eric Gordon fiasco, Jordan was a shrewd public relations move by Weber and his staff, bringing some needed positive attention to the program. Ultimately, having Michael Jordan at Illinois games was a very cool, if not surreal, sight, especially him sitting with the family and friends of Illini players in the aluminum bleachers near the Illinois bench (see the home Minnesota debacle from this season). Apparently, a conversation with Michael Jeffrey Jordan was an influencing factor why Orr senior and 2011 recruit Mychael Henry verbally committed to the Illini. Still, at the end of the day, public relations and marketing don’t win ball games; having the right horses and properly utilizing them do.
● Jordan’s first season at Illinois (the disastrous 2007-2008 campaign) began with him completely missing the rim on his first collegiate shot against Arizona State at the Maui Invitational, and drawing the laughter of his father in the stands. Everything else from that nightmare season (besides Frazier’s shoulder-bump of Gordon and a nice run in the Big 10 Tournament) has been erased from the memory bank.
● On an overachieving 2008-2009 team (Weber’s best coaching job at Illinois) that got a 5-seed in the NCAA Tournament, Jordan was a somewhat pleasant surprise (considering the low expectations) in spot duty that ultimately earned him a scholarship. Jordan’s highlight that season had to be a steal and layup that gave Illinois a late lead in an early March loss at the Assembly Hall to eventual national runner-up Michigan State. With Frazier out of the Big Ten Tournament and NCAAs, Jordan’s minutes increased, where his and his teammate’s limitations were especially apparent (see the Purdue and Western Kentucky disasters).
● Following his sophomore season, Jordan announced that he was leaving the team to focus on his academics, an apparently mature decision considering that Jordan really had nothing else to prove at Illinois. At the urging of his teammates, Jordan would return to the Illini prior to his junior season, a frustrating one to say the least. Following his junior season, Jordan was wavering yet again on coming back, which seemed to irk Weber a bit. Now Jordan is a former Illini after getting released from his scholarship, though Weber had nothing but positive things to say about JJ.
● Early in the 2009-2010 season, Jordan appeared to be making some strides, showing a little more confidence in his shot (see the Missouri game) and playing an inspiring game, along with Dominique Keller, against Gonzaga (Jordan’s best performance as an Illini) at the United Center. During the rest of the season, his confidence was up and down. Still, at the end of the day, Jordan was overmatched as a backup point guard, not strong enough with the ball (especially against pressure) or always willing to shoot the ball when open (often putting his teammates at a disadvantage late in the shot clock). At times, the Illini were a very difficult team to watch with Jordan on the court (although the same can be said for various players in the last couple of seasons).
● Jordan’s flaws were made apparent by Weber, who had amazing yet frustrating faith in the kid. While Jordan seemed more committed to the game than some of his more talented teammates and won over Weber with his work ethic and team attitude, the Illini coach placed too much trust in this overachiever while struggling to develop a longer leash for players like the raw Paul and even the fundamentally-challenged Alex Legion. While it could be frustrating to see the offense sputter with Jordan on the court while Paul sat on the bench, this was on Weber, not Jordan. Admittedly, it could be hard to separate this when Jordan was in the game.
● Seemingly a smart kid, Jordan had to know the talent ahead of him and that playing time would likely be scarce (right?), factors that most likely influenced his decision. If his heart was not in playing at Illinois this season, or if he simply wanted to play somewhere smaller in his last year of eligibility or even walk away from the game, he certainly made an intelligent choice. Considering his father’s competitiveness, it’s unlikely that Jordan will be able to stay away from the game.
● Ultimately, Jordan was a perfect player to steal a minute or two (a la right before a television timeout, at the end of the half, or when in severe foul trouble), capable enough on defense and worth sacrificing an offensive possession here and there (in fact, he could have still served this role perfectly in 2010-2011). Basically, a lack of guard depth in the last couple of seasons and Weber’s own stubbornness pressed Jordan into more minutes than his talent was able to handle, resulting in some very shaky moments when getting extended action. Still, considering what Jordan was in high school (a solid role player), he did more than I ever expected at Illinois (not that he should have been here — at least as a player — in the first place).
● Last point: Jordan is yet another player to transfer or be dismissed from Illinois in the last few years (see Stan Simpson, Richard Semrau, Legion, Brian Carwell, Jamar Smith, Rodney Alexander, etc.). While Illinois can survive these players leaving, if player exoduses continue to be an annual thing, this will be a bad sign that talent is not completely developing in Champaign.
Hope you enjoyed the first post, and look forward to following the Illini basketball team all summer and season long while further fleshing out this blog.
Also thanks to the Fansided crew for getting WritingIllini.com designed and developed.