MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2017 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Horhn, Frazier, Norwood, Blount, Michel, Barnett, Jackson (11th), Simmons (12th)
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION EXTENDING THE CONDOLENCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE TO THE BEREAVED FAMILY OF LEGENDARY BASKETBALL COACH ORSMOND JORDAN FROM DECATUR, MISSISSIPPI, WHO LED THE LANIER AND JACKSON MURRAH BASKETBALL TEAMS TO STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS AND NATIONAL RECOGNITION.
WHEREAS, Orsmond E. Jordan, Jr., one of the most successful coaches in Mississippi high school basketball history, passed away on February 19, 2017; and
WHEREAS, Coach Jordan's remarkable career began during segregated times in Mississippi and continued long after integration. His 1963-1964 Lanier High School Basketball Team easily rates as one of the greatest in Magnolia State history. The Bulldogs won 43 games, lost none, averaged 100 points a game, and won a Post-Season National Championship Tournament for all-black high schools; and
WHEREAS, years later, after integration, Jordan's teams earned big headlines, and he was named Mississippi's High School "Coach of the Year" four times. His Murrah High School Mustangs won four State Championships (1970, 1986, 1991, and 1992). They were known for their up-tempo style of play and ball-hawking, pressing zone defense; and
WHEREAS, in his 35-year coaching career, Jordan's teams won 722 games, and he coached seven All-Americans, eight future NBA players and three McDonald's All-Stars. Jordan's teams achieved fourteen 20-win seasons, four 30-win seasons and one 40-win season; and
WHEREAS, Jordan's list of Murrah standouts reads like a Who's Who of Mississippi basketball: Ricky Short, Jesse Pate, Kenny O'Bannon, Donnald Allen, Knovin Hamilton, Ronnie Henderson, Othello Harrington, James Robinson, and Lindsey Hunter, among others. At Lanier, Jordan coached Cornell Warner, who would go on to become one of Jackson State's greatest players and then an eight-year standout in the NBA. The Lanier team was so deep and talented that Warner was the third man off the bench. "I had the best seat in the house for one of the best teams in history," Warner once said; and
WHEREAS, on March 23, 2001, Coach Orsmond Jordan, Jr., was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2001. Coach Jordan is one of the most decorated coaches in Mississippi high school history, having been named Coach of the Year at the City, Metro, Conference and District levels; he was selected Coach of the Year by the The Clarion-Ledger on four occasions; his Sportsmanship Awards include a Martin Luther King Sports Award, a Kiwanis Club Honor, a V.F.W. Sports Award, and was honored by the City of Jackson and the State of Mississippi resolutions, commendations, and parades; Orsmond has appeared and coached in numerous All-Star games and basketball clinics; in 1983, he spoke to the famed McGregor Basketball Clinic in Dallas, Texas; he appeared at the Medalist Basketball Clinic at Palo Alto, California, in 1985 and 1986; he served as an annual instructor in the B.C. All-Star Camp in Milledgeville, Georgia, from 1980 through 1991; Coach Jordan conducted a basketball camp at the University of California in Irvine in 1990; in 1991, he coached in the celebrated Dapper Dan Roundball Classic held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Coach Jordan also coached in the Mississippi High School All-Star Basketball Game in 1979 and the Mississippi/Alabama All-Star Game in 1992; in 1993, he served as Administrative Coach in the Mississippi/Alabama contest; and
WHEREAS, Coach Jordan is no stranger to Hall of Fame memberships, having been inducted into the Mississippi Association of Coaches Hall of Fame in 1991, and he is also a member of the Alcorn Sports Hall of Fame; additionally, Orsmond was inducted into the Alcorn Alumni Association Hall of Honor; and
WHEREAS, Coach Jordan is survived by his wife, Marion Imogene Clark Jordan, who goes by the nickname of "Gene"; the family was active in the New Hope Baptist Church in Jackson; the Jordans have two children, Ronald Jordan and Monica Horhn Grant, and one grandson, Justin Horhn; and
WHEREAS, it is with sadness that we note the passing of a Mississippi sports legend whose legacy will not be forgotten:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby extend the condolences of the Mississippi Legislature to the bereaved family of Legendary Basketball Coach Orsmond Jordan, Jr., from Decatur, Mississippi, who led the Lanier and Jackson Murrah Basketball Teams to State Championships and national recognition.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to the surviving family of Coach Jordan, forwarded to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.