Eric Moskowitz: Jordan waiting for his shot

It wasn't supposed to happen this way. By now, he was supposed to have inked his first contract overseas. Or maybe been earmarked for an NBA training camp. Or at least have an inside track at the CBA.<P> He was not supposed to be stopping by the Palestra. He was not supposed to be sitting in the house all day. He was not supposed to be hanging out at Smoke's on the weekends.<P> He is the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year. He is a three-time first team All-Ivy selection. He was featured in Sports Illustrated and USA Today. He hit game-winning shots. He signed autographs on the road. <P> For now, though, all Michael Jordan can do is wait. Wait, and hope -- hope the phone rings with news from his agent, news from a team overseas, just news period.<P> So he waits.<P> "I don't have any set plans right now; I just want to play," says the man who ranks in the top three in Penn history in points, assists and steals. "Just to be playing somewhere right now, to be knowing what I'm going to do. Not knowing is very, very frustrating."<P> His voice is wistful. It is not the cocky voice of a man whose dribble penetration had opposing coaches breaking out in a cold sweat. It is the voice of a man who loves basketball, who clearly has a talent for the sport and a hunger to play it, but who has nowhere to play.<P> For now.<P> After last season, when he led the Quakers through an undefeated Ivy campaign -- when he averaged 16.3 points and 4.9 assists per game -- No. 23 earned an invite to the NBA's pre-draft camp in Portsmouth, Va. When his name wasn't called in the draft, he signed on with the Philadelphia Force of the fledgling National Rookie League, a summer pro developmental league for young players.<P> A handful of games into the NRL season, he was picked up by the Philadelphia 76ers and invited to the NBA's Shaw's Summer League in Boston in late July. It may not have been the Iverson-Kukoc Sixers, but it was still the Sixers.<P> The six-foot point guard appeared in all seven of the team's games but came off the bench for a total of 84 minutes. He hit 25 percent (5-of-20) of his shots, picked up two steals and dished out seven assists -- one more assist than Sixers center Nazr Mohammed.<P> In mid-July, about the time Jordan left the NRL, Force teammate Paul Romanczuk signed a professional contract in Spain. Romanczuk, the beneficiary of countless Jordan feeds at Penn, graduated from Wharton in '99 and hung up his high tops to work as an accountant at Arthur Andersen. Now, he is getting paid to play basketball.<P> Jordan, meanwhile, is still waiting. He says he's in talks with a team in Israel. He thought he'd have heard back from them by now.<P> Romanczuk joked last year that he wouldn't go to a country he'd never heard of, that he wouldn't play "in Iceland for $10,000 and a bike." Suddenly, that doesn't seem so bad to Jordan.<P> "It's getting to that point," he says. "There are still some things, though. I talked to some people the other day -- the IBL [International Basketball League] doesn't start up until later in the year, and a lot of things are pushed back because of the Olympics, so hopefully something will come up. We'll see what happens."<P> Jordan talks to Penn coach Fran Dunphy on the phone, and he talks to his agent, Keith Glass. Glass, who has brokered 150 NBA deals in 20 years and who represents former Penn stars Matt Maloney and Ira Bowman -- both of whom played in the NBA last season -- is cautiously optimistic.<P> "I'm disappointed," Glass says. "I'm not surprised about overseas because it's very, very difficult for a point guard to get a job in a foreign country.<P> "But I thought there'd be more interest in him here. He's a terrific player, a really good defender and he knows how to play."<P> There are still options out there. The IBL, maybe -- a notch below the CBA, but a place where everyone from Lloyd Daniels to Steve Goodrich has found a home. But for now, they are all just possibilities.<P> "Yeah, I think he'll be playing somewhere," Glass says. "I don't think there's a problem with that. I just don't know where."<P> Glass says he's confident, but he sounds more like a worried friend than a cutthroat dealmaker.<P> "It's very tough. You have to be a business person, from my side. But I know what it means to them, and it bothers me that I don't have something good to say every day to everybody."<P> Direct your Web browser to the official Sixers Web site and you'll find a bunch of e-postcards sent from the Shaw's Summer League and addressed "To: Sixers Fans." There's a postcard from Ira Bowman and one from assistant coach Mo Cheeks. Nazr Mohammed sent one, as did Pepe Sanchez -- in English and en Espanol. All of the postcards are pretty similar. Having fun, weather's great, did some sightseeing.<P> But not Mike's. No message about shopping on Newbury Street or visiting the Tall Ships or cracking open a lobster. Just a black-and-white headcut where the return address would be. And a message:<P> I've had a great time and learned so much in summer league. I want to thank the Sixers and Coach Brown for inviting me to Boston. It has been a thrill to wear a Sixers jersey.<P> -- Michael<P> It's a note from a man who is not going to be invited to training camp, and in hindsight it's a little bit melancholy. Local boy makes good. Local boy gets to wear a Sixers jersey. Two months later, local boy's still looking for something, anything.<P> Mike Jordan is by no means a pity case. He's got a supportive agent and a former coach trying to help him out. He's got a trophy case piled with hardware and a resume full of accolades.<P> And he has a Penn degree. He just doesn't have a job.<P> So he comes by Penn. He works out at the Palestra. For four years, he was as big of a BMOC as it gets in the Ivy League. Now, he makes cameo appearances at Smoke's. He high-fives people who didn't expect to see him.<P> "It kind of just sucks, actually, ya know, " he says, voice trailing. "I'm getting tired of sitting in the house all day. I'd rather be playing somewhere."<P> So he waits. He tries to stay optimistic. And he hopes for a phone call.<P> "Pretty much [that's it]. Just stay positive," says the man who just six months ago owned the Palestra. <P> "Stay positive."<P> <P>

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