Adonis Adelecino Jordan (born August 21, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player. An All-Big Eight guard who played collegiately at the University of Kansas, Jordan was the starting point guard during the school's 1991 and 1993 Final Four appearances. Together with shooting guard teammate Rex Walters, the two established Kansas as having one of the top backcourts in the NCAA during the 1992–93 season. He was later drafted in the 1993 NBA draft but only appeared in only 10 career games in the league (six with the Denver Nuggets during the 1993–94 season and four with the Milwaukee Bucks during the lockout-shortened 1999 NBA season). He spent the bulk of his professional career playing overseas with various basketball clubs.
Early life
Adonis Jordan was born as the fourth son to Josephine Jordan in Brooklyn, New York. His mother named her son after the Greek mythological character Adonis, a handsome young man who was fabled to be the love interest of the goddess Aphrodite. She worked as a secretary for an insurance company while her son spent his time playing pick-up street basketball on Brooklyn blacktop courts. Jordan was enrolled by his mother at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Yonkers, New York, across town from where she worked. Although the decision necessitated a 45-minute commute each way, she could be assured that her son would receive an education in a safer environment compared to their Brooklyn surroundings. Jordan played high school basketball at Roosevelt High and blossomed in his second year, being one of only two sophomores named to the New York All-City team. However, Jordan's stay in New York was cut short when his mother suddenly decided to relocate to California in 1987 after a two-week visit to see relatives in the state.
Jordan moved from one coast to another and resettled in Los Angeles after his sophomore year in high school. He transferred to Cleveland High School in Reseda and joined future NBA veteran Lucious Harris as stars of the school's varsity basketball team. The New York native was a big factor on the Cleveland High Cavaliers' squad, playing big roles on offense (averaging 13.8 points a game) and defense (averaging 5.9 steals per game) during the 1987–88 season. At the start of his senior year, Jordan was considered by some to be one of the state's top point guards and was named among the nation's 50 top-rated high school seniors by basketball scout Bob Gibbons. He completed his final high school season averaging 24.3 points and 13.4 assists per game, leading the Cavaliers to a 23–3 record and to the quarterfinals of the City Section tournament while earning back-to-back Valley 4-A All-League First Team recognition.
College career
While at Cleveland High, Jordan was heavily recruited by collegiate basketball programs, including the University of Kansas. At the time, Kansas was suffering from NCAA sanctions that stemmed from recruiting violations under former coach Larry Brown. Though the scandal dissuaded other potential high school prospects from attending Kansas, Jordan nonetheless decided to take a chance with the school after he was impressed by the university's friendly and personal atmosphere. In the 1989–90 season, freshman Jordan came off the bench to back up starting Jayhawks point guard Kevin Pritchard. Together they helped lead Kansas to a surprising record of 30–5 under second-year coach Roy Williams. With Pritchard's graduation, Jordan became the starting point guard for the 1990–91 season, leading the 27–8 Kansas Jayhawks to the Final Four during his sophomore year. Jordan averaged 12.5 points and recorded 151 assists that season while the team managed three upset victories in the 1991 NCAA Tournament against Indiana (Sweet Sixteen), the Southeast Regional number one seed Arkansas (Elite Eight) and Eastern Regional number one seed North Carolina (National Semifinals) before finishing as National Runnerup to Duke in the National Championship game.