It looks like the Princeton offense could be headed back to New Jersey.
Eddie Jordan, the current Lakers assistant coach who the franchise brought in to help set up a hybrid Princeton offense (a plan Kobe Bryant asked for then the team ditched five games into the season), could be the new head man at Rutgers.
That according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
In the aftermath of the scandal surrounding former coaches physically abusing players in practices, Rutgers offered Jordan the job after University of Rhode Island coach Danny Hurley turned down an offer from the school earlier this week, sources said.
Jordan will meet with Rutgers officials face-to-face, sources said, this weekend to try to finalize an agreement.
Jordan was an NBA head coach with Sacramento, Washington, and most recently one season with Philadelphia.
It seems like a smart hire.
First, it calms the waves after the Mike Rice debacle by bringing in a respected and professional coach. Second, he’s a Rutgers alumnus.
Most of all, this is smart because the Princeton offense is a good fit at a school like Rutgers. It’s great to run the dribble drive motion offense of Kentucky when you have that kind of elite talent every year. But that’s not the guys you can recruit to Rutgers (no offense). So bring in a system where the players are in a disciplined system that is hard to defend without a level of discipline not usually seen in college ball (or the NBA, but it’s a more complex issue there). It may take a couple years, but Jordan can have success there and as a former NBA coach he should have the credibility to recruit.