Jordan, a former Kansas University standout from Reseda, Calif., who led the Jayhawks to Final Four berths in 1991 and 1993, figured Fox Sports News might be showing a breakdown of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

“Right away I saw Kansas was playing Cal State Northridge. I was like, ‘Whoa. This is too spooky,”’ Jordan, a top point guard in Germany’s professional league, said Monday during a phone interview.

Jordan, who spends nine months a year in Germany, owns a townhouse just 10 minutes from the Cal State Northridge campus where his high school coach, Bobby Braswell, is the Matadors’ fifth-year coach.

“I’d spoken to ‘Bras’ just hours before the picks were announced,” said Jordan, whose clock is set seven hours ahead of Lawrence time. “I never thought they’d be playing KU.

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“I said to myself, ‘Oh man I’ve got to go with Kansas, but I’ve also got to support my beginnings. My high school coach and those (Matador) players I work with every summer.’ I’m hoping it’s a one-point Kansas win, but realistically I think it’ll be Kansas by 20.”

The Jayhawks (24-6) and Matadors (22-9) will meet at 6:40 p.m. Friday at the University of Dayton Arena.

The winner will meet either Syracuse or Hawaii at 11:10 a.m. Sunday for the right to head to the Sweet 16 in San Antonio.

“I want KU to win the championship,” Jordan said. “Coach (Roy) Williams deserves that, just as much as coach Braswell deserves to make the tournament. Coach Williams has not been to the Final Four since my senior year. It’s time to go back and win it all.”

Jordan, who chose KU over Seton Hall and others his senior year at Reseda’s Cleveland High, said he always knew Braswell would make a good college head coach. Braswell recommended Jordan attend KU even though the Jayhawks were put on probation just a week before signing date during Jordan’s senior year in high school.

Braswell also worked as former KU aide Jerry Green’s top assistant at Oregon for four years before accepting the Northridge post.

“When I was in high school, coach Braswell wanted that job. Before he went to Oregon he wanted that job,” Jordan said. “It’s a small school, but right there in Southern California (which is) good for recruiting.

“He’ll always get some good players that are overlooked by some of the bigger schools because of his L.A. ties and his hard work. It’s a great accomplishment for them to make the tournament. That is a small, small school. When I was in high school, they won two or three games a year. That’s it.”

Amazingly, Cal State-Northridge has a Jordan clone in junior point guard Markus Carr, who is the nation’s assist leader at 8.9 a game.

Jordan is a mentor to Carr, a 6-foot-1 Palmdale, Calif., native. Jordan has taken Carr under his wing during summers, the European off season.

“Last summer, Adonis and Markus would sit in the gym after shooting around,” Braswell said. “Adonis would talk to him about what it’s like being a point guard, how to take care of your big guys and things like that. I see Adonis all over him.

“Markus is unique, a little better athlete than Adonis was. He can do more things than Adonis from an athletic standpoint.”

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Jordan, who ranks fourth at KU in all-time assists and 15th in scoring, planned to speak to Carr on Monday.

“He’s my prot,” Jordan said. “I’m happy for him. All his hard work is paying off. I remember in the summers he’ll ask me, ‘What’s it like going to the Final Four? What’s it like being in the NCAA Tournament?’ Now he gets to experience it.

“I’m going to tell him to have fun and I’ll encourage him. My sophomore year we lost to Texas El-Paso. Strange things happen in the tournament.”

Coincidentally, the Jayhawks’ shocking loss to the Miners was in Dayton

Some consider it strange powerhouse Kansas hasn’t been back to the Final Four since Jordan’s senior year. Why is that?

“‘Cause I’m not there,” quipped Jordan, who played one year with the Milwaukee Bucks (1999) and also has played in Australia, Israel, Venezuela, Finland and Germany. “It’s like you have to play well and not have injuries and have luck on your side. Teams get upset in brackets all the time. You never know who you are going to play or what’s going to happen in the NCAA Tournament.”

Jordan says he talks to Williams about once a month.

“If it goes five weeks he’ll call me to make sure I’m alive,” Jordan said with a laugh. “He’ll ask me why I’m slacking and not checking in with him.”

He forever will be grateful to his high school coach for encouraging him to attend KU and play for Williams despite the Jayhawks’ NCAA probation. The probation for violations in the Larry Brown regime kept Kansas out of the NCAAs in the 1988-89 season, the year before Jordan enrolled at KU.

“Coach Braswell knew coach Williams was somebody I could trust and I thank him for that every day,” Jordan said.

Why did Braswell steer Jordan to KU?

“It was right after the NCAA penalty came down. I told Adonis he could go in and play behind a guy (Kevin Pritchard) one year and the probation would only last a year and wouldn’t really affect him,” Braswell said. “It actually would help him and give him a year to learn the system. Playing for coach Williams was the best thing he could have done.

“Those weren’t easy times. Coach Williams was recruiting guys like Harold Miner who didn’t go there because of the probation.”

Williams is grateful to both.

“Bobby was very fair. I tried to emphasize to him how important Adonis was to us,” Williams said. “I think he got that message across to Adonis. When the probation hit, I tried to tell him it would not affect Adonis’ career. I think some others did not understand that part of it.

“Bobby did a great job understanding that part and told Adonis. He told Adonis he could trust me. It had to be a matter of trust.”

Jordan trusts both Williams and Braswell.

“They are like parents in a way,” Jordan said. “I owe both of them a lot. They are great people. That’s why I hope it’s a good game.”