Update: An official press release Monday night from Butler University confirms the news we reported Sunday night, LaVall Jordan is the new Bulldogs Head Coach.
Butler University Athletic Director Barry Collier may have found his next Men’s Basketball Head Coach in LaVall Jordan, according to sources very close to the program. They indicated that the process is moving rapidly, to the point that an announcement coming as early as Monday wouldn’t be out of the question.
Don’t be surprised if the whole process is completed by end of day Tuesday.
Sources said the 38-year-old University of Milwaukee Head Coach aced his interview for the job on Saturday, and that Sunday saw more momentum moving in Jordan’s direction.
He’s both a former player (1998-2001) and assistant coach (2004-07) at Butler, and he previously interviewed for this same exact gig in 2013; which ended up going to Brandon Miller, who eventually resigned due to health reasons and was then replaced by Chris Holtmann.
LaVall Jordan certainly represents “The Butler Way” as he was originally recruited to the program by Collier, the same man (obviously) who is making the hiring decision now.
Jordan’s record at Milwaukee, (11-24, 4-14 in the Horizon League) is far from impressive, but he’s reportedly wowing gaining momentum due to his time as an Assistant at Michigan (2010-2016).
The specialty of LaVall Jordan in Ann Arbor was on recruiting and developing back court players, and the Wolverines had some great guards, and tremendous success during that time. Most notably, was Michigan’s #1 ranking in a January AP poll and national title game appearance in 2013. The following year, Michigan won its first outright B1G championship since 1986, and advanced to the Elite 8.
The Michigan teams of the 2010s have been known for stellar guard play, as Caris LeVert, Nik Stauskas, and Tim Hardaway Jr., among others, all developed into stars. The brightest star of course was Trey Burke, who took home the 2013 national player of the year award.
In addition to Jordan, Collier also has two current Butler assistants on the short list- Terry Johnson and Ryan Pedon. Another candidate is Micah Shrewsberry, a current assistant to Brad Stevens at the Boston Celtics. His interview was Sunday.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes to WGN CLTV and KOZN.
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