An interesting journey to ACC basketball for the former Union Titans standout
So much has changed for Jordan Chatman since he helped the Union Titans get to the Tacoma Dome in 2012.
He has his college degree.
He is working on his MBA.
He is married.
But he still has game.
Actually, even his game has changed. For the better.
Jordan Chatman has found a basketball home at Boston College, the third-leading scorer for the team that was the first to defeat Duke this season, back when the Blue Devils were the top-ranked team in the country.
“I think it’s a combination of things,” Chatman said of the key to his success. “Experience is one. Hard work is another. I put in a lot of hard work in the offseason. I think I just found a good fit. I fit well with my teammates, with the way my team plays and my coach coaches.”
He made five 3-pointers in that victory over Duke last month. A home game, Chatman now has the memory of being on the floor when the fans rush the court.
In this video, Chatman is the first highlight, draining a 3-pointer:
Video courtesy of Stadium via YouTube
“It was crazy. I don’t think we’ve ever had that many fans come to our game and have that kind of atmosphere,” Chatman said. “We believed we could beat them. Just a matter of going out to do it.”
Chatman’s journey did not go directly from Washington to Massachusetts. He went on a two-year mission to Taiwan for his church before attending Brigham Young University.
“We were trying to talk to people about the Mormon religion and Jesus Christ,” Chatman said. “It changed me as an individual. I learned everything you could think of. Patience. Love for other people. Getting along. Communication. Hard work. Perseverance.”
He also met Chelsea, who is from Taiwan. They both ended up attending BYU, where they started dating. They are now married and attend a Mandarin-speaking Mormon church in Boston.
Chatman averaged 8.6 points per game last year at Boston College, but he showed signs of a bigger future. He tied the program record with nine 3-pointers in a game, scoring a career-high 30 points against Virginia Tech.
He matched that total this season with 30 against Richmond, making seven 3-pointers.
“It’s just a great feeling when you see all those shots going in,” Chatman said. “It’s just cool when my teammates find me when I’m open.”
Now a junior athletically, he is averaging 13.5 points per game and is shooting 43 percent from beyond the arc.
Boston College is 11-5 and 2-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference going into Tuesday’s game at North Carolina. The team only won two conference games a year ago.
“We want to make the tournament. The ACC is brutal. A lot of teams are ranked or very close to being ranked. Every game is going to be tough,” Chatman said. “It’s going to be tough to do, but we believe we can do it.”
As an individual, Chatman said his goal is to do his part to help the team achieve its goal. Long-term, he wants to play professional basketball. For now, though, the focus is on Boston College.
It has been six years since he left the big stage of high school basketball in Washington.
“It was a lot of fun playing in Vancouver. Great high school gyms and atmospheres,” he said. “My biggest memory is going to the Tacoma Dome, making a run, and getting third in state.”
It was at the state tournament when Chatman made a full-court shot. He said he does not brag about that shot too much because the Titans lost that game. Still, he does enjoy promoting Northwest basketball.
“The east coast people are biased. They think east coast players are the best,” Chatman said. “It’s nice to show them west coast has good players, too.”
Here is video of that long shot made at the state tournament in 2012:
Video courtesy of hoopsmedia25 via YouTube
