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A leader from the day he stepped foot on campus, former men’s basketball standout point guard and team captain
Jourdan Roberson `15 enters his third season as assistant coach of the nationally-ranked
New Jersey City University men’s basketball program in 2017-18. He was appointed acting head women’s basketball coach on December 21, 2017.
Roberson served on Coach
Marc Brown’s staff as a graduate assistant coach during the highly-successful 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons in which NJCU enjoyed back-to-back 21-win campaigns, the program’s seventh Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Metro championship in 2016 and a return to the NCAA Division III Tournament in 2017. The Gothic Knights entered the D3hoops.com Top 25 national poll in 2017 for the first time in the poll’s existence.
Roberson, who transferred to NJCU for the final two years of his collegiate career, was a team co-captain in both 2013-14 and 2014-15, leading the Gothic Knights to a pair of New Jersey Athletic Conference Tournament appearances and the 2014 ECAC Metro Tournament. NJCU won 27 games in his two seasons.
Roberson is the school's all-time free-throw percentage leader at 85.6 percent (95-111), breaking the more than quarter-century old record of all-time great guard
Jeffrey Jordan.
An excellent student, he was voted First-Team Academic All-NJAC as a senior in 2014-15. He earned Honorable Mention Academic All-NJAC as a junior.
In two years, Roberson tallied 415 points, 164 assists, 156 rebounds and 79 steals in 1508 minutes while playing in 54 games (52 starts). He averaged 7.7 points, 3.0 assists and 2.9 rebounds while logging 27.9 minutes per game.
Roberson was named to the 2013-14 College of Staten Island Tournament of Heroes All-Tournament Team
As a junior he ranked fourth in the NJAC in assists and assist/turnover ratio, sixth in steals and 10th in three-pointers made per game (1.7). His .833 free throw percentage would have ranked fourth in the league with enough attempts to qualify. As a senior he ranked ninth in assists. He shot 87.7 percent from the foul line (50-57); had he had enough attempts to qualify,
Roberson would have been .003 points out of leading the league.
Roberson earned a Bachelor of Science in Fire Science from NJCU in May, 2015. He is currently completing a master’s degree in National Security Studies.
A Brooklyn, NY resident,
Roberson is a graduate of University High School in Newark.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ABOUT JOURDAN ROBERSON:
Marc Brown, Head Men’s Basketball Coach:
“Jourdan is a born leader. He was my team captain the moment I recruited him. As a junior and senior, the position he played only enhanced his leadership skills but he was absolutely a born leader.”
“In our practices now, I use him in prepractice situations because he’s knowledgeable and knows how to take care of his mind and his body. He has a great approach to the game mentality. I think this is a great opportunity for him.”
Shaquan Worthy, Men’s Basketball (junior point guard and co-captain, Trenton, N.J.):
“Jourdan has not only been a teammate and a coach, but he’s been a big brother to me. Coming in as a freshman he didn’t take it easy on me and still to this day he doesn’t take it easy on me and I don’t expect him to ever not push me to the limit. He stayed locked in on and off the court. A lot of people say education first and their actions show differently, but Jourdan led by example for me and showed why he was not only a team captain, but a true definition of a student-athlete. He doesn’t know this, but in so many ways I look up to him because of how he didn’t let anything distract him. He’s an intelligent man. He’s a jokester like myself, but he’s always serious at the right time.”
Acting Women’s Head Coach Jourdan Roberson on the opportunity and how Coach Brown prepared him to be a head coach:
“Coach Brown coached me hard as a player and expected the best from me because he knew what I was capable of. He’s like a father to me. He allowed me my own segment in practice to kind of run things and take responsibility. Most importantly, he let me be me. The whole coaching staff in general has been very supportive. Coach Ab [Abdul Madison] has been very supportive and always explained things when I was uncertain. Coach Greene [Jonathan] has always been very supportive and has always been the person to go the extra mile to make sure you get it. Coach Brown’s father [Charlie Brown] has also been an important factor in my learning experience with his style of teaching.
I think the most important part that I learned from Coach [Marc Brown] is the attitude behind the game. He’s as passionate as I am. I still want to play myself. But he’s taught me how to channel my passion into teaching, how to deal with multiple personalities and managing egos. I kind of dealt with that being a captain all four years of my college career, but he’s helped me master it.”
