Michael Jordon, a veteran assistant basketball coach at Savannah, has taken on his first head coaching job as the leader of the boys program at Habersham School.
The school announced the hiring Wednesday, and Jordon joins the Patriots after serving as assistant varsity coach and head JV coach at Johnson High School. Jordon previously served as an assistant at his alma mater, Jenkins, along with Savannah Christian and Savannah Country Day.
“This is a great opportunity for me,” said Jordon, 29. “I have to start by thanking my Lord and Savior, my wife, and all the coaches under whom I have learned so much. Habersham has been a great place for me” to run my program. I'm just starting out, so I'm grateful for the opportunity to coach here. ”
Jordon got his start as an assistant under Bakari Bryant in the 2015-16 season, when the Warriors finished as state tournament runners-up. He then coached at Savannah Christian under Travis Priddy (now head coach at Woodville Tompkins) and at Savannah Country Day under Demetrius Smith. When Campbell took over Johnson in 2020, he reunited with former Jenkins assistant coach Chuck Campbell. He was part of the staff that led the Atom Smashers to the Class 3A state finals this year.
He said he learned from each of these coaches and will incorporate what he learned from them into his style going forward.
“Bacari (Bryant) always wanted input from everyone on the staff, so it gave me a lot of confidence to work with him,” Jordon said. “And I learned a lot from Coach Priddy and Coach Smith as well. Coach Campbell and Coach Bakari always brought a lot of energy to the sideline and knew how to build confidence in their players. I also learned a lot from Coach Priddy and Coach Smith. It will be the same.”
Habersham Athletic Director Susan Barry said she believes Jordon is a great fit for the program.
“When I first talked to him, I felt like I could talk to him all day,” Barry said. “We know he knows the game and loves basketball, but just as much as that, he loves working with kids. I think that's important to our program. We want to be great at basketball, but it has to be in the context of loving our kids, which is why Coach Jordon was the perfect person for this job. ”
Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact us at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN