Rutgers Basketball Recruiting: Kyle Flood Likes Eddie

Recently, whenever basketball coach Eddie Jordan has had a recruit on campus, he's taken that player to see Kyle Flood and company's football practice.

Today, Jordan had 2016 shooting guard Temple Gibbs on campus.  Gibbs is going to be an elite NJ prospect, and Jordan rolled out the red carpet, having Greg "Shoes" (SHOES) Vetrone and Mike (NO NICKNAME) O'Koren sweet talking him.  They brought Gibbs to practice.  Afterward, Keith Sargeant--who now writes for NJ.com (and is doing a phenomenal job covering practices, along with Dan Duggan--asked Flood about Jordan and his visits.

Flood gave a money quote:

I love [Jordan visiting practices].  Sometimes he comes with the staff. Sometimes he comes with a recruit to practice, which I think is great. I tell Eddie what I tell his recruits when they come on campus: I don't know how you could play for a better choice. Somebody that chose Rutgers when he was their age and somebody that chose Rutgers again when we had the opportunity to stay in the NBA. He said, 'No, Rutgers is a better place for me and family.' That's exactly the kind of person I think you'd want to play for.'

Even thought it's basketball, Flood does bring a certain cache when it comes to recruits.  He definitely knows how to get involved with players and sell Rutgers.  Having him vouch for Jordan can only help in the process.  And Gibbs is one to watch.  If Jordan were to land him--it'd be a nice step, even though he's two years away.  Jordan and company will be looking for shooting guards in 2016, with Bishop Daniels graduating and only Mike Williams there to man the position.

Needless to say, Jordan and his new staff are really pounding the pavement this summer.  They've landed Shaquille Doorson for next year, they're hard after Corey Sanders and Isaiah Briscoe, and they've had multiple 2016 players on campus--and at football practices.   Now, Jordan has to close.

And closing means getting better in 2014-15.  The team truly has to pass the eye test that its getting better.  Somehow digging up a back-up point guard would be a miracle at this point, but it would be an acceptable miracle.

Here's hoping a 2015 commitment comes soon as well.  And then all that hard work can start to pay off.  Maybe Kyle Flood will even get a nod of thanks from Coach Jordan.

Here are some Temple Gibbs highlights.

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