Recruiting blog: Andrew Jordan

For most of the summer, Andrew Jordan was without a high school. The 6-foot-5 athletic forward left Woodruff after averaging eight points and seven rebounds as a freshman. Jordan enrolled at Limestone and played in a tournament in Champaign with the Rockets.

But Jordan ran into districting and enrollment issues and will return to Woodruff for his sophomore season.

"Partially, I kind of hadn't sat down and thought about it," Jordan said. "It wasn't really worth moving. I had a good thing at Woodruff. I was starting as a freshman. I made first team all-conference. I was getting major Division I college interest. I was getting a lot of letters. Once I kind of thought about it, it was kind of a dumb move (to transfer).

"I was kind of led on by a lot of people. Actually at the end, it didn't really change my decision. It wasn't anybody's decision...At the end, everyone that was trying to help me make the move wasn't always helping me at the end of my decision."

Jordan said he and Limestone guard Donovine Stewart, who averaged 24.8 points as a freshman last year, would have given the Rockets a chance to win the state tournament.

Jordan teamed with Stewart this summer on the Peoria Carver AAU team and said the two are close friends. But Jordan said he wants to try to propel Woodruff to a state tournament appearance.

"I wanted to make the decision on my own. I don't want to stick with anybody," Jordan said. "I want to make moves on my own. Donivine's a good teammate, but I don't want to be in Donovine's shadow. I want to be my own person. It was kind of like I was being shadowed."

Like Stewart, Jordan has drawn the attention of several Division I programs. He has received mail from Marquette, Bradley, Wake Forest, Kansas, Arizona, Penn State, Illinois, Xavier, Purdue and Cincinnati. Jordan said Marquette and Purdue have shown the most interest.

"I got some invitations to visit, but most of the invitations to come visit was during my nationals (AAU) time," Jordan said. "There was like four of them. I know one of them was from Purdue to go to one of the practices. I just wasn't able to make one of them. I got a couple from Cincinnati."

Jordan met with Illinois coaches over the summer and came away impressed.

"After talking to the coaches, I love the staff. I love the staff," Jordan said. "I say it's an A-plus. I love the staff. (Illinois assistant) Jerrance (Howard) is real cool. I like talking to Coach (Bruce) Weber. They don't basically talk to me just about basketball. That's how I know they're a good staff because they talk to me about school grades I need. They just basically talk about grades and then about basketball."

Jordan said the early attention pushes him to work harder to live up to expectations.

"It's more pressure...now I'm getting stars and half-stars and numbers," Jordan said. "Now, I want to be at the same level, so I have to work harder. And (next year), I know I need to work even harder my junior year."

Jordan and Woodruff kick off the season on Nov. 26 as they host the Peoria Woodruff Roundball Classic. Though Jordan is excited to begin the season after a summer of havoc, the Woodruff standout has highlighted one date on his calendar: Jan. 12.

Woodruff will play Peoria Manual at the United Center at 3 p.m. before the Chicago Bulls host the Portland Trailblazers. The Woodruff players are selling 350 tickets for $40 each or $55 with bus transportation.

"This is the first time for me going to an NBA game," Jordan said, "and for me to be on the court before watching them, this is big."

For more on recruiting from Jeremy Werner, click here.

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