The Rutgers Basketball Program Is An Embarrassment

After the turmoil of Mike Rice’s departure from the helm of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights basketball program, the school looked for a new head coach to take over and establish a winning, proud culture. So they hired Eddie Jordan, who was inducted into their Hall of Distinguished Alumni despite never actually gaining enough credits to graduate from the school. The school’s website published that he was indeed an alumni, which Jordan later cleared up. So much for getting off on the right foot.

Despite his 1,632 points, 585 assists, and 220 steals at Rutgers as a player, his 29 years as a coach have not been as easy or successful. With only eight of those years in collegiate hoops and never as a head coach, it’s evident Jordan needs to change something in his philosophy.

Currently sitting at the bottom of the American Athletic Conference standings at 5-7, the Scarlet Knights have had embarrassing losses against UAB, Drexel, William and Mary, Fairleigh Dickinson, and Princeton. Their wins haven’t even been pretty, as they won by eight, giving up 84 points against Florida A&M, had a 72-71 win against Yale, and gave up 89 points in a win against Division II school Stillman.

Led by Myles Mack, who is putting up 16.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game, and Kadeem Jack, who is averaging 14.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per contest, Rutgers has been struggling on the boards, pulling down just 37.4 per game, assisting the ball, averaging just 14.1 per contest, and in terms of field goal percentage, shooting just 45.3 percent from the field.

Arguably the best news of all is that former Georgetown Hoyas forward Greg Whittington is headed to Rutgers after getting dismissed from Georgetown after multiple academic ineligibility issues. While many people cite Whittington’s upside, it sounds like more fuel to the fire to me. Rutgers basketball is and will continue to be a joke as long as Eddie Jordan is the coach.

Dan Karpuc is an American Athletic Conference basketball writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @dan_karpuc, “Like” him on Facebook and add him to your network on Google.