| Wins against Kentucky - 0 | Losses against Kentucky - 9 |
Alma Mater: Notre Dame [1935]
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Date Born: October 23, 1910
Date Died: June 13, 1991
Overall Record: 214-145 [14 Seasons]
| Date | Matchup | UK Result | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/28/1963 | Kentucky vs. Notre Dame | W | 101 - 81 | (at Louisville, KY) |
| 12/29/1962 | Kentucky vs. Notre Dame | W | 78 - 70 | (at Louisville, KY) |
| 12/30/1961 | Kentucky vs. Notre Dame | W | 100 - 53 | (at Louisville, KY) |
| 12/7/1960 | Kentucky vs. Notre Dame | W | 68 - 62 | (at Louisville, KY) |
| 2/13/1960 | Notre Dame at Kentucky | W | 68 - 65 | - |
| 2/14/1959 | Kentucky vs. Notre Dame | W | 71 - 52 | (at Chicago, IL) |
| 3/15/1958 | Kentucky vs. Notre Dame | W | 89 - 56 | NCAA Mideast Regional Finals (at Lexington, KY) |
| 2/2/1952 | Kentucky vs. Notre Dame | W | 71 - 66 | (at Chicago, IL) |
| 3/13/1951 | Loyola (Chicago) at Kentucky | W | 97 - 61 | - |
Obituary - Chicago Tribune (June 15, 1991)
Former Notre Dame coach John Jordan Dead at 81
by Bill Jauss
John Jordan, Notre Dame's basketball coach from 1951 to 1964, "was very close, like a father, to his players," recalled Ray Meyer, Jordan's former Irish classmate and later his coaching rival.
"John stayed close to his players in later life, too," added Meyer, the former De Paul coach. "John was a fierce competitor, yet he was even tempered, level-headed, always a gentleman."
Jordan died Thursday at 81 in Oak Forest Hospital. People who knew him said his heart was as big as his native South Side of Chicago.
At a Notre Dame undergrad, Jordan played as a teammate of Ed "Moose" Krause, George Ireland and Meyer. He captained the Irish in 1935. He coached at Mt. Carmel High School before and after World War II service as a Navy officer. He coached one season, 1950-51, at Loyola University.
After he left Notre Dame Dame in 1964, he served the Chicago Park District.
Meyer, a Notre Dame freshman when Jordan was senior captain, recalled how Jordan taught him how to pack peanuts that the basketball players sold at football games.
"Johnny and George Ireland taught me to make the sack look full so we could sell more bags," said Meyer.
Except for those three years of military service, Jordan coached at Mt. Carmel from 1935 to '49. After coaching Loyola for the 1950-51 season, he succeeded one former Irish teammate, Krause, at Notre Dame and replaced by another, Ireland, at Loyola.
"I was athletic director at Notre Dame at the time, so I hired John," said Krause. "John had the respect of his players. That's how I judge a coach. Years after they left school, John's players came back to him, and John remembered every one."
Krause met Jordan when they were Chicago prep stars, Krause at De La Salle and Jordan at Quigley Seminary, where he was studying for the priesthood. "We lost to John's team when we played at Quigley," Krause fondly recalled. "Of course, they used two priests as the refs."
Many of Jordan's star players at Notre Dame were Chicagoans: Tom Hawkins of Parker, Jack Stephens and John McCarthy of Mt. Carmel, Joe Bertrand of St. Elizabeth's and De Paul Academy's John Smyth, now a priest and the head of Maryville Academy.
Jordan coached at Notre Dame before the school erected the multimillion-dollar Joyce Athletic and Convocation Center. Notre Dame had trouble luring opponents into its noisy, old bandbox. Thus Jordan's teams had to play 65 percent of their games on the road.
Still, they won 60 percent of their games, fashioning a 199-133 record. They reached the NCAA tournament five times and compiled a 6-5 record.
The wake will be 2-9 p.m Sunday at the chapel at 3600 W. 95th St. in Evergreen Park. Mass will be said at 10:30 a.m. Monday at St. Margaret of Scotland Church, 99th and Throop Streets. Burial will be at Mt. Olivet Cemetery.
