That might do it for the basketball career of Michael Jordan’s eldest son.
Jeff Jordan will not return to the Central Florida team this semester for “personal reasons”, the school announced late Saturday. Jordan, a senior who played for three seasons at Illinois before transferring to UCF, did not travel to East Carolina with the team on Saturday. His brother, Marcus, is the Knights’ leading scorer and remains with UCF.
“I thank coach Jones for the opportunity to be a part of the UCF basketball family,” Jordan said in a news release. “I wish the team and coaching staff much continued success.”
Neither Jordan not coach Donnie Jones offered any further explanation for why he’s leaving in the middle of his senior season, though playing time almost certainly plays a huge factor.
The return of Knights guard A.J. Rompza (he missed the season’s first 12 games due to NCAA eligibility issues) decreased the need for Jordan’s backcourt presence.
Jordan might’ve fared better had he stayed at Illinois, where he went from former walk-on to key contributor and would’ve remained that way in the Illini lineup. (A little defense in that backcourt would’ve been a welcome addition last season.)
Still, playing with brother Marcus in college must’ve been a treat.
The pair played together in high school and had a few highlight moments at UCF, including a win against North Carolina A&T last month where Jeff scored nine points, had six assists and Marcus scored 28. They even set each other up for back-to-back 3-pointers at one point.
“It’s pretty cool,” Marcus Jordan told the Orlando Sentinel. “We did that a lot in high school, but to finally do it for the first time in a UCF jersey is really cool. We joked about it during the game.’”
A professional basketball career seems unlikely, unless he is content to play somewhere overseas or a D-League team grabs him for PR reasons.
Jeff Jordan averaged 2.7 points, 1.8 assists and 1 steal in 13 games this season.
Related stories:
- Jordan’s sons sat the pine earlier this season
- Jeff and Marcus Jordan had quite the night in Las Vegas
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