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Conwell-Egan's Jordan returns home, commits to Rider

09/05/2015, 1:15pm EDT
By Josh Verlin

Conwell-Egan's Stevie Jordan (above) chose Rider over offers from four other Division I schools. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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While most of his classmates around the country headed home after the grueling July live recruiting periods to relax and start to think about their upcoming college decisions, Stevie Jordan had other plans in the works.

The Conwell-Egan point guard finished his final AAU tournament playing with Philly Pride in Las Vegas at the end of July and went straight out to California, where he spent the entire month of August.

He was out there with his father, hip-hop/R&B musician and producer Stevie J, and four siblings to film a new show for VH1, "The Jordans take L.A."

Despite enjoying the City of Angels with a film crew following his family around, the five Division I schools that had offered Jordan during the summer weren’t too far from his mind--on a few occasions, he called Conwell-Egan head coach Frank Sciolla to tell him he was ready to commit.

Sciolla told him to wait until he was home.

Jordan arrived back in Philadelphia on Thursday night, and it only took him 24 hours of being home before he called up Rider head coach Kevin Baggett and became the Broncs’ first member of the incoming class of 2016.

"They were at every game in the summer, and by the last tournament [of July], I knew where I wanted to go," Jordan said. "I told (Sciolla), but he told me to wait until I got home in August, and so that’s what I did.”

After averaging 10.7 ppg as a sophomore, when the Eagles went 15-8 but lost to Bishop McDevitt in the Catholic League playoffs’ first round, Jordan broke out as a junior. The 5-foot-10, 165-pound guard earned Class AA First Team honors this past season, averaging 16.8 ppg as Conwell-Egan went 21-8 and won its first-ever state title.

He continued that momentum onto the AAU circuit, averaging 8.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg and 2.2 apg to help Philly Pride to an 8-4 record in the Under Armour Association and a spot in the shoe company’s grassroots championships.

“I think one of the biggest strengths for Stevie is he can play inside or outside of a system,” Sciolla said. “I think sometimes guys, when you play on the summer circuit...the game will be very free-flowing, and he can play and succeed in that, which you need to be able to do. And he can play in a game where the tempo is slowed and you’re running a more intensive offense.”

During the spring and summer, Jordan picked up five Division I offers: Richmond was first, on April 22, with Hampton (April 25), Rider and Towson (April 27) right behind; Canisius joined them by extending a scholarship in July.

Jordan is the first Division I commit for Sciolla since he was head coach at Pennsbury from 1995-2010; most notably, former Temple Owl and current Indiana Pacer Lavoy Allen and former West Virginia/Temple guard Dalton Pepper played under Sciolla in the latter years of his time at the public school.

Jordan gave Sciolla a lot of credit for helping him develop into a Division I player over the last 24 months.

"He made me become more of a leader, and being a leader has just turned my game into something different," Jordan said. "It made me want to take control of the game more and get my teammates involved.”

In three seasons under Baggett, who graduated from Saint Joseph’s in 1989, the Broncs are 54-44 (.551), including a 36-22 (.621) record in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play. Last season, after being picked seventh in the 11-team conference, Baggett led Rider to a 21-12 record (15-5 MAAC), earning him conference Coach of the Year honors.

The Broncs have three senior guards on the roster this year in Teddy Okereafor, Khalil Alford and Zedric Sadler. With only two other ball-handling guards on the roster--sophomore Anthony Durham and freshman Kealen Ives--there is certainly going to be an opportunity for Jordan to make an impact right away next fall.

As for what Jordan will be doing next summer, another few weeks out in California isn't completely out of the picture. The show, which features the 18-year-old and his older brother Dorian (20 years old), as well as sisters Sade (19), Savannah (16) and Eva (5), is centered around the five of them exploring Los Angeles and helping their father with his complicated love life.

“We’ll find out when it airs," Jordan said. "If everybody likes it, then there might be multiple seasons.”


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