With every passing fiasco the one thing we know Rutgers has gotten right is that the university’s primary color is scarlet.
After Rutgers fired its last men’s basketball coach months after knowing Mike Rice had hurled basketballs at players’ heads and spewed homophobic venom, Deadspin reported yesterday Eddie Jordan, the State University of New Jersey’s new basketball coach and former star, never earned his degree.
Sources told The Post that though Jordan said at his introductory press conference Rutgers, “is a great place to be. It’s a great degree,’’ the University does not believe he was being disingenuous or deceitful.
Last night, Rutgers released a statement supporting Jordan, who played at the university from 1973-77 and led the Scarlet Knights to the Final Four in 1976.
“While Rutgers was in error when it reported that Eddie Jordan had earned a degree from Rutgers University, neither Rutgers nor the NCAA requires a head coach to hold a baccalaureate degree.
“Rutgers sought Eddie for the head coach position as a target-of-opportunity hire based on his remarkable public career.’’
So there we have it. Rutgers pursued Jordan like a love-struck teenager. And perhaps Jordan could have put on the brakes a bit by mentioning that though he was an alum, he did not in fact have a diploma.
But his track record is not one of a man trying to slide. According to registrar’s records obtained by Deadspin, Jordan earned 103 credits at Rutgers, seven shy of a degree.
“I went back to Rutgers in 1984-85 as a voluntary assistant to complete my studies,’’ Jordan said in an ESPN radio interview. “I didn’t walk.’’
Whether or not Jordan has a degree has no bearing on whether or not he can recruit and coach. Does anyone know of a university that offers a major in either of those concentrations, the ones that determine a coach’s success?
No, a successful head coach learns the ropes in the grad school known as the real world. He learns it as an assistant. He learns it on the road.
But Rutgers never seems to learn.
The Rutgers men’s basketball program has been a punch line on the court since Jordan and Phil Sellers led the Scarlet Knights to their glory days so long ago our nation was celebrating its Bicentennial.
Most recently, Rice, and his assistant Jimmy Martelli, lowered Rutgers from a punch line to a pariah.
Rutgers didn’t need to hit a home run with its next hire. It just had to play error-free ball. It failed by not doing its due diligence and knowing Jordan’s degree status would surface.
“We’ve all come to a point that we have to regain our pride and our dignity and our integrity to our university,” Jordan told reporters when he was hired.
“That’s why I’m honored and proud to be part of that. There’s a responsibility for all of us to represent our university in the highest class and the utmost respect.”
It’s time for Rutgers to follow Jordan’s lead. The university is about to begin its association with the Big Ten. It can’t continue to act small time.
Jordan sounded like a credible man, a believable man yesterday on radio and on April 23, the day he was hired. It made the other words in the Rutgers statement sound believable.
“His athletic skills and leadership and his professional accomplishments have been a source of pride for Rutgers for more than three decades. We are excited to have him as our men’s basketball coach, and we look forward to many winning seasons.’’
Jordan may or may not turn out to be a great hire, but Rutgers already grossly failed in its primary task of trying to rebuild its image and regain the trust of its fan base.
This is the university’s failure for not checking with its own registrar’s office and knowing it had to be out front on Jordan’s status.
No wonder scarlet is Rutgers’ primary color. Yesterday was just the latest in the university’s embarrassing fiascoes.