Report: Ex-St. John’s star charged with robbery, attempted murder
At 18, he became Philadelphia’s player of the year and a consensus five-star prospect. At 20, he was hailed as the face of St. John’s basketball and a potential NBA prospect.
Now Rysheed Jordan’s future doesn’t look nearly as bright.
Jordan, 22, was arrested Wednesday for his alleged role in a May 27 shooting that took place in his native Philadelphia, 6ABCNews.com is reporting. Police told the television network that Jordan has been charged with attempted murder, robbery and other offenses.
The incident allegedly took place after Jordan and two other suspects arranged a meeting with three other men via Facebook in order to sell a cell phone. Police told 6ABCNews.com that Jordan and his accomplices tried to rob the victims and that when the victims fled, Jordan shot one of them in the arm.
The arrest is merely the latest sign that the supremely talented but enigmatic Jordan will probably never reach his full potential.
Jordan averaged 14.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists in helping St. John’s reach the NCAA Tournament as a sophomore, but the 6-foot-4 point guard also was frequently endured off-the-court issues. He was suspended one game for violating unspecified team rules as a freshman. He did not start another as a sophomore after sending a homophobic tweet. He also took a three-day leave of absence from St. John’s during his sophomore season.
Certain he was going to enter the NBA draft after the 2014-15 season, Jordan lost focus academically during the spring semester. He missed so many classes and exams that he was unlikely to be eligible for the start of the 2015-16 season, a fact that forced him to turn pro even though his stock wasn’t as high as he had anticipated.
Jordan went unselected in last June’s NBA draft. The Delaware 87ers picked him fifth overall in last year’s D-League draft but released him after just 11 games, during which he averaged 8.1 points but shot well below 40 percent from the field.
– – – – – – –
Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
