Clark Atlanta University men’s head basketball coach Alfred Jordan was recently named Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) coach of the year.
In only his second season as head coach at his alma mater, Jordan, a former CAU basketball player, led the Panthers to an overall record of 22-5 this season.
“It feels good, it’s been a long time coming,” Jordan told The Atlanta Voice about earning the honor. “It feels like my patience has paid off.”
The last men’s coach to win coach of the year honors was current University of Arkansas Little Rock (UALR) head coach Darrell Walker. Jordan coached under Walker for two seasons before moving to becoming an assistant at UALR before returning to the Atlanta University Center to work as an assistant coach at Morehouse College.
This year’s 22-win season includes a 16-5 conference record and a 12-1 record at home in L.S. Epps Gymnasium. That single home loss took place last year on Dec. 18 to LeMoyne-Owen College, 81-77. The Panthers didn’t lose any of their regular season home games during 2024.
The Panthers started the 2023-24 season with six straight victories, before winning 14 of its next 15 games. Jordan’s ability to recruit high-caliber transfers such as the Stewart twins, graduate students Andrew and Elijah, and Division I transfers Chris Martin and Jalen NeSmith, has gone a long way to transform the team this season.
Martin, a first team all-conference selection, was named conference player of the year after averaging a team-high 18.1 points per game. Junior center Kharye Cayne was named the conference’s defensive player of the year after avering 7.7 rebounds per game and blocking 93 shots in 27 games.
Clark Atlanta opened the postseason in the quarterfinals of the SIAC tournament on Thursday, Mar. 7.
Jordan said his goals for the remainder of the season are strictly team goals. “The rest of the goals are to win the SIAC tournament and the NCAA championship,” he said.
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