An fan favorite is calling an end to his overseas basketball career and coming back to the IU basketball program.
Indiana University men’s basketball coach Mike Woodson has announced that Bloomington native and 2013 Big Ten champion Jordan Hulls will become the Hoosiers Team and Recruiting Coordinator, the school said on Monday.
Hulls will begin his tenure following the conclusion of his season, his ninth as a professional, in the German BBL League where he has played for MHP Riesen in Ludwigsburg, Germany since 2020.
Hulls is taking the role vacated by Brian Walsh, who was recently promoted to assistant coach.
“He is a great family man who has competed at the highest level in high school here in Bloomington, as a Hoosier who won a Big Ten title and played for the No. 1 team in the country, and for the last nine years as a professional basketball player overseas,” said Woodson in a release.
“Anyone you talk to who has spent any amount of time with him has the utmost respect for him. With his experiences, I believe he can be a tremendous asset to our players and staff and we are excited for he and his family to come back home.”
Hulls played for the Hoosiers from 2009-13 and was part of a group which won the 2013 Big Ten outright championship, its first in 20 years, made two NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearances and was the No. 1 team in the country for the better part of the 2012-13 season.
He finished his career ranked 30th in IU scoring with 1,318 points, was fourth in career three-point field goal percentage (44.1%) and third in career free throw percentage (85.9%). He also made an IU and Big Ten record 58-straight free throws over two seasons in 2010 and ’11. He is second all-time in games played at IU with 135.
“It’s hard to put into words what this opportunity means to me and my family,” said Hulls in the release.
He continued to live in Bloomington during the offseason while playing overseas.
“Indiana University has been a part of me my whole life and I couldn’t be more excited to come home and work with Coach Woodson, the entire staff, and our players in the program,” Hulls added.
“The relationships built during my time at IU with my teammates, coaches, and community helped shape me into the person I am today. I’m looking forward to building those same type of relationships as I enter into this new and exciting chapter of life in a different role at IU.”
Hulls won the National Senior Class Award in 2013 and was a CoSIDA Academic All-American. He won the Director’s Award at the Spirit of Indiana Showcase and was a multiple Academic All-Big Ten honoree. He earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors in 2012 and 2013 and earned the Hoosiers Big Ten Sportsmanship Award in 2012.
Hulls came to IU following a storied career at Bloomington South High School where he was named Indiana’s Mr. Basketball and Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year in 2009 and led the Panthers to a 26-0 record and a Class 4A state title.
He arrived to play for IU and head coach Tom Crean at a time when the program was at its lowest point following the NCAA sanctions handed down at the end of Kelvin Sampson’s tenure. Hulls helped lead the long climb back to national relevance, as the Hoosiers went 56-16 over his last two seasons.
Following his graduation from IU with a bachelor’s degree in health and fitness, Hulls played his first season in Poland for Energa Czarni Stupsk before moving to Sigal Prishtina in Kosovo where he was voted as Balkan League Import Player of the Year after leading the squad to Balkan League and Kosovo League championships. He then played for Hubo Limburg United in Belgium in 2015-16 before beginning a six-year career in Germany.
He played for two years for Eisbaren Bremerhaven before playing the last three years for MHP Reisen.
Hulls played a key role in helping MHP Reisen to the Basketball Champions League Final Four this season and surpassed the 500 mark in career assists in his German BBL career. Last year, he hit the second most 3-pointers in a single season in league history and ranked fifth all-time in most 3-point field goals made in a career with over 400. His 2019-20 season was cut short due to COVID but in 2018-19, his squad also competed in the FIBA Europe Cup where he was named season MVP.
Hulls’ return marks the continuation of a family connection to IU basketball that goes back half a century.
His grandfather, John, was an assistant coach on Bob Knight’s first staff and his sister, Kaila, also played basketball for the Hoosiers.
Hulls already has connections and experience with recruiting. He owns the JH1 LLC where he has created a skills academy, a training regimen, and JH1 Elite, an AAU program.
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