Richardson’s Tim Jordan learned from stars. Now it’s his turn to be the program’s face

RICHARDSON — Two things came to Kevin Lawson’s mind when he first met Tim Jordan.

“He can be really intimidating if you don’t know him,” Richardson’s basketball coach said. “First impression was, ‘Oh my goodness.’”

The second?

“I love him.”

Jordan, who moved to North Texas from Saginaw, Mich., after his sophomore year of high school, is a 6-7 senior forward on Richardson’s basketball team. He’s physical, aggressive and built like a defensive lineman.

He’s also introspective, thoughtful and incredibly cognizant of where he’s been, where he is and the onus now placed on him as the face of one of the area’s winningest teams in recent history.

Yes, Jordan (whose nickname is T2) is now the guy at Richardson, a team which one season ago included McDonald’s All-American Cason Wallace (now a freshman at Kentucky) and four-star guard Rylan Griffen (a freshman at Alabama). A team that reached No. 2 in ESPN’s national high school basketball rankings last year. A team that beat national No. 1 Compass Prep (Ariz.) and state juggernaut Duncanville in the same month stretch. A team that went 59-4 from 2020-22.

The two catalysts behind that unprecedented success are gone. You can catch them on national television with their respective college teams, and soon, possibly, in the NBA.

Jordan, a starter on last year’s Richardson team who had to fight for each of his shot attempts playing alongside two of the country’s best players, remains.

It’s easy to see why Lawson loves him.

Jordan averages 21 points and 10 rebounds per game for Richardson (20-9, 9-2 District 7-6A), which despite monumental losses to graduation, hasn’t missed much of a beat.

Thank the kid from Michigan for that.

“I don’t want to say it like this, but I feel like everything is on me,” Jordan said. “All the wins, all the losses. No matter if I have 40 [points] in a loss, it’s on me. I should have had 50, or 10 assists. Richardson, they’re known for winning, before I even came down here. I don’t want people to say, in my senior year, that T2 couldn’t lead them to a win.’”

‘This is the best big Richardson has had’

Everything is on Jordan.

That’s his mindset, at least. It’s one heck of an ask. But’s it’s not one driven by ego. Rather, it’s driven by maturity and understanding of his situation.

It’s also not something that came easy.

“I really wasn’t ready for it,” said Jordan, who now sits 44 points away from 1,000 at Richardson alone. “But God don’t give you nothing if you’re not ready for it. I didn’t think I was ready for it; I didn’t think it was going to come for me.”

It’s easy to play the numbers game and assume that Jordan would be ready for it. A quick rewind: Wallace, The Dallas Morning News’ player of the year last season, averaged 19.2 points per game as a senior. Griffen, a first-team all-area honoree, averaged 20.9. Jordan, Richardson’s third offensive option, averaged 10.1.

So do the math. Remove the combined 40 points that Wallace and Griffen averaged, bump Jordan up from third option to first, and expect greatness. But what works on paper doesn’t always translate to the floor, right? Jordan had his doubts. His coaches — and former teammates — did not.

Griffen, Jordan said, taught him to be competitive.

“Even if you’re going against a 2-year-old, you’ve got to be competitive,” Jordan said.

Wallace taught him how to prepare for the big moments.

“There’d be days where I’d come into the gym thinking I was on time, and Cason would already be in sweats running full court,” Jordan said. “Cason showed me that no moment was too big.”

Jordan just might’ve been built for this. His high school coach at Arthur Hill (Mich.), Tony Davis, once told MLive.com that Jordan — then a rising freshman — was a “program changer.” Four years later, 1,200 miles away and with mentorship from two of the area’s top recruits, he’s capitalized on it all.

“I think in his DNA, in who he is, he’s wanting to lead, and wanting to take that ownership,” Lawson said. “The moment [Wallace and Griffen] left, he came in and said, ‘Okay coach, let’s go. I don’t want any drop off, I’m ready to take the reigns here.’”

It clicked in November, when Jordan led Richardson to a 4-1 record at the McDonald’s Texas Invitational in Pasadena, with wins over Pearland Dawson (ranked seventh in the state) and San Antonio Brennan (ranked 17th in the state, No. 2 in the preseason).

“He was incredible,” Lawson said. “He was awesome in Houston. I was looking around like, ‘This is the best big that Richardson has had,’ type stuff. That’s what was coming out of my mouth.”

Richardson’s best big — one with a willingness to lead — might be the right player at the right time for the team’s new era.

‘We’re Richardson’

There’s something sweet, something comfortable, about normalcy.

Because, let’s be honest, two blue chip, homegrown recruits on one roster for four years is not normal. Not for a public school, at least.

“I’ve enjoyed this year, I’ve enjoyed watching us grow,” Lawson said. “I’ve enjoyed watching [Jordan] grow, and how he’s kind of matured into that leadership role. Every year is different, it’s been a fun challenge. We’ve enjoyed the wins, we’ve enjoyed some of the big victories. You learn mostly from times that you’re not successful.”

If success is determined by wins and losses, and if a loss offers that opportunity to learn, then this season has provided that for Lawson and Richardson more than the previous two.

Richardson is still within striking distance of a district championship in one of the state’s toughest leagues, and it’s one of a number of contenders within a loaded Region I playoff bracket that should include Lake Highlands (No. 1 in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Statewide poll), Arlington Martin (No. 3) and Allen (No. 4). It hasn’t lost a home game since 2019.

It also has more losses this season as it did the last two combined. There’s value in that.

“We instill in these guys, when you have something that’s unsuccessful, we bounce back,” Lawson said. “You never want to play us after a loss. We’ve had more of those opportunities [this year]. It’s been great to see them grow through that, because we’ve had more of those opportunities than years past.”

Lawson is proud of the reputation Richardson has built. Even if Wallace and Griffen are gone, opposing teams still give Richardson their best shot because of that established success.

Jordan, who learned from Wallace and Griffen to fend off challengers, will take it upon himself to ensure it continues.

That’s what leaders do, after all.

“I know we’re Richardson, and when we’ve lost, we’ve made people’s seasons,” Jordan said. “Being that star player, and that face of Richardson right now, all that guilt goes straight to you ... you don’t want to be the team that lost that home win streak.”

On Twitter: @McFarland_Shawn

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