The following Tweet from long-time UT Men's Basketball Trainer, Brian Jones, sums up the play of Jordan Lauf over the last 4 years and the intangibles he brought to the Rocket Program:

bjones8‏ @BJonesATC · 5h5 hours ago

"20 yrs of college hoops & HANDS DOWN the toughest kid I've worked with!! You're a hell of a kid @JordanLauf25 Hold your head high!"
































bjones8 Retweeted Jordan Strack

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He deserves the accolades. He always put the team first. A few of his team mates over the years had more talent, but no where near the heart. Jordan will be missed, and long remembered.

Toughness is an easily identifiable trait in basketball players. Do they finish through contact? Are they on the floor scrambling for loose balls? If they get pushed around in the paint and do they push back? Do they hover on the perimeter rather than attacking the glass? Do they take pride in competing on the defensive end? Do they quit on a play after throwing an errant pass, or bust ass back to the defense end? On the break, do they attack the basket at full throttle despite the high likelihood of taking a hit, or tuck the ball away and throw it at the rim hoping to get fouled and protect their body? Toughness is what makes a player like Jordan Lauf special and fun to watch. I hope TK can recruit a few more of his kind.

(03-10-2017 06:43 PM)Sleepy Wrote:  Toughness is an easily identifiable trait in basketball players. Do they finish through contact? Are they on the floor scrambling for loose balls? If they get pushed around in the paint and do they push back? Do they hover on the perimeter rather than attacking the glass? Do they take pride in competing on the defensive end? Do they quit on a play after throwing an errant pass, or bust ass back to the defense end? On the break, do they attack the basket at full throttle despite the high likelihood of taking a hit, or tuck the ball away and throw it at the rim hoping to get fouled and protect their body? Toughness is what makes a player like Jordan Lauf special and fun to watch. I hope TK can recruit a few more of his kind.

Yep. Some think the "intangibles" don't mean anything. Couldn't disagree more.

Every sports program need the "fox hole guys" to quote Coach K, I think.

Doesn't matter, thats how it works. Jordon Lauf is a foxhole/junk yard kind of guy.

Nick would have loved him. So do I.

Thanks Jordon - you are a keeper - thank you for what you brought.

As one last thing to bring, bring your baby brother so he doesn't go to some D8 school, come back to Savage and kick our azz in an exhibition/OCC game.

Only player I can recall that came close to being as tough as Jordan Lauf was maybe Jeff Haar from the mid 80's teams ...

(03-10-2017 08:05 PM)Screwball Wrote:  

(03-10-2017 06:43 PM)Sleepy Wrote:  Toughness is an easily identifiable trait in basketball players. Do they finish through contact? Are they on the floor scrambling for loose balls? If they get pushed around in the paint and do they push back? Do they hover on the perimeter rather than attacking the glass? Do they take pride in competing on the defensive end? Do they quit on a play after throwing an errant pass, or bust ass back to the defense end? On the break, do they attack the basket at full throttle despite the high likelihood of taking a hit, or tuck the ball away and throw it at the rim hoping to get fouled and protect their body? Toughness is what makes a player like Jordan Lauf special and fun to watch. I hope TK can recruit a few more of his kind.

Yep. Some think the "intangibles" don't mean anything. Couldn't disagree more.

Every sports program need the "fox hole guys" to quote Coach K, I think.

Doesn't matter, thats how it works. Jordon Lauf is a foxhole/junk yard kind of guy.

Nick would have loved him. So do I.

Thanks Jordon - you are a keeper - thank you for what you brought.

"Nick would have loved him". I hadn't thought of that but you're right- he always had a Lauf type or two to augment the guys with more obvious talents. We'll definitely miss that toughness.

Definitely a great tribute, and if we had 5 guys that played as hard as Jordan, we'd still be playing tonight!
Btw, can't understand why no one hasn't offered his brother. I've seen him play three times this year and he's as good or better offensively as Jordan was in HS. MAC schools are missing the boat!!!

(03-11-2017 08:15 AM)letsgoblue Wrote:  Definitely a great tribute, and if we had 5 guys that played as hard as Jordan, we'd still be playing tonight!
Btw, can't understand why no one hasn't offered his brother. I've seen him play three times this year and he's as good or better offensively as Jordan was in HS. MAC schools are missing the boat!!!

Blade says he has several offers from DII and III teams. I would think if a Zack Denny can get DI offers Lauf will, too. I don't follow HS teams but the sheer numbers seem to dictate someone picking him up. Might be the hoops equivalent of Gradkowski.

(03-11-2017 08:36 AM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  

(03-11-2017 08:15 AM)letsgoblue Wrote:  Definitely a great tribute, and if we had 5 guys that played as hard as Jordan, we'd still be playing tonight!
Btw, can't understand why no one hasn't offered his brother. I've seen him play three times this year and he's as good or better offensively as Jordan was in HS. MAC schools are missing the boat!!!

Blade says he has several offers from DII and III teams. I would think if a Zack Denny can get DI offers Lauf will, too. I don't follow HS teams but the sheer numbers seem to dictate someone picking him up. Might be the hoops equivalent of Gradkowski.

Since Jordan is going to be a UT Grad assistant I believe his brother might be able to get free tuition to walk on for the Rockets. I would like to see him come in and if it works out be given a scholarship. We need a big man too much to give him the remaining scholarship but if for example Antunez would leave I would have no problem giving him his scholarship