Darrell Walker said he "wouldn't have been able to sleep at night" if he hadn't brought his assistant and recruiting coordinator at Clark Atlanta University along with him to Little Rock.
Walker announced Tuesday that his first hire as head men's basketball coach at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock was Alfred Jordan, who signed a $98,000 annual contract on April 11.
The contract, which UALR shared with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, stated that Jordan's first day was Thursday.
On Tuesday, Walker said Jordan was "a lot of the reason" his Clark Atlanta teams went 45-18 with consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament and that "the right thing to do was bring [Jordan] along with me."
"I always used to hear him, when he'd talk on the phone with people asking, 'do you think you'll ever move on?' the first thing he would say, 'whenever I'm going somewhere, I'm taking Coach Jordan with me,'" said Jordan, 31. "He knows the relationship. I'd run through a wall for him, and I'll continue to run through a wall for him."
Jordan, a native of New York City, played for Clark Atlanta from 2006-09, was an assistant coach with the program for six seasons, then became the interim coach when former head coach Tony LaMarr was fired in March 2016 after going 31-53 over three seasons.
When Walker was hired a month later, he retained Jordan as his only assistant coach.
"He made my job a lot easier," Walker said.
Jordan had already filled out the recruiting class.
"I made his first year so easy, that he literally only had to watch film and coach basketball," said Jordan. "Didn't have to worry about recruiting or paperwork."
Twelve recruits signed with Clark Atlanta in Walker's two seasons. Ten were transfers, and five were from Jordan's hometown-New York.
Those two trends could continue at UALR.
Walker confirmed last week that six of 13 non-seniors on last season's roster will return. He said Tuesday that the gaps could be filled with transfer players.
UALR has yet to sign a recruit since the spring signing period began April 11.
"No doubt, we know we've got some things we need to do," Walker said. "We're going to take care of that as soon as possible."
Both Walker and Jordan said the prototype UALR player can play two to three positions, "get up and down the court," and "play defense."
Some of those players, Jordan said, could come from New York.
Jordan grew up in Harlem, and his father, Alfred "Al Cash" Avant, was one of the original commentators at Rucker Park, which has long hosted a famous streetball tournament that has included Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame members Julius Erving and Allen Iverson.
Jordan would meet his basketball idols as his father ran down the sideline with a microphone, creating funny nicknames for players in the games.
Three starters from Clark Atlanta's final game last season were from New York, and Jordan said they had played at Rucker Park.
"The New York area, it's easy for me to go back there and recruit," Jordan said. "I look for the best available talent from the world. If I had a kid in California, I'll go to California. If he lives in Alaska, I'll get my biggest jacket and get on a plane to Alaska."
He said he will be at major basketball events across the country, wearing a Trojans shirt so "kids can know we're on the recruiting trail, same as the big dogs, recruit agains the high majors."
"With this beautiful city of Little Rock, it's an easy sell," Jordan said, "and the community is waiting for a good basketball team."
Sports on 04/18/2018