Biography
By Jim Hague
The first name sticks out like a sore thumb.
Rehtul Jordan is his birth name – and that’s no misprint or misspelling – but the Rutgers-Newark sophomore and member of the R-N track and field team prefers to go by the name of D.J. Jordan these days, for obvious reasons.
Rehtul is the given name in honor of his father, Luther, who wanted his son to have his name, only spelled backwards.
“It’s very interesting,” D.J. Jordan says. “I didn’t have any pain or torture like a 5-year-old would expect with a name like that. The other kids thought it was cool. The teachers all had a tough time saying it. That’s my name. I prefer to go by D.J. now, but I answer to both. A lot of people think it’s so unique and cool, but I hate it, because I always have to explain it.”
So there it is. He’s D.J. Jordan from now on.
He also has an interesting story about his background and how he ended up at Rutgers-Newark.
While he was born and raised in a small town called Irmo, South Carolina – you really can’t make this stuff up – just outside of Columbia, S.C., Jordan’s mother’s family is originally from New Jersey.
“My mother was born in Orange,” Jordan said. “My grandparents on my mom’s side are still there. I have aunts and cousins there.”
Jordan wasn’t even interested in track and field until he was in eighth grade.
“My parents were encouraging me to get involved in a sport,” Jordan said. “I had some coaches who thought I could run. I said, ‘Let me try it and see if I like it.’ I fell in love with it. Since then, I’ve been running and I loved it.”
Jordan competed in track at Dutch Fork High School in South Carolina and developed into a solid 400 and 800-meter runner.
“I ran the 100 and 200 (meters) as a freshman and only ran the 400 (meters) once,” Jordan explained. “It changed every year. But once I ran the 400, I felt like I had a future there. My coaches all said that it’s where I should be.”
During his junior year, Jordan was part of a 4x800-meter relay team that won the South Carolina 4-A regional state championship and sixth overall in the state. Jordan also helped Dutch Fork win the regional state crown as a team in 2013.
When it came time to think about colleges, Jordan’s mind wandered north.
“I knew that I always wanted to go out of state,” Jordan said. “I actually knew about Rutgers-
Newark because one of my cousins, Jermaine Monk, is a professor in the social work department. He encouraged me to come.”
Jordan always had aspirations to attend law school, so he thought that attending R-N and majoring in public affairs and administration would be the best option for him.
“I actually did not visit Rutgers-Newark at all before it was settled that I was coming,” Jordan said. “I visited Rutgers in New Brunswick before, but I wanted to go to a college that was in a city. Once I got here, I realized that this is where I should be. It just happened that way.”
While it seemed easy to understand that R-N was the place for Jordan academically, the same cannot be said for his athletic beginnings.
“He had a hard freshman year,” Rutgers-Newark head track and field coach Juan Edney said.
“It was very difficult for me,” Jordan said.
The reason?
“He was not used to the cold,” Edney said. “He would come to practice in the winter wearing nothing but sweatpants. It was way colder here than where he was from.”
“I don’t like the cold,” Jordan said. “I already had problems with a hamstring and it was hard to get stretched in the cold. I didn’t have the right clothing. I learned very quickly that I needed to layer up.”
Needless to say, Edney was not a sympathetic ear.
“His whole freshman year was a wash,” Edney said. “He didn’t have a good cross country season, then he pulled a muscle indoors. He had hamstring problems and never got healthy. I think he had to learn how to stretch properly. I wasn’t happy with what happened.”
“I’m glad he was hard on me, because I learned the hard way,” Jordan said. “But I was depressed. I wanted to quit. I was so frustrated. I hated to work on my flexibility, but I knew I had to do something.”
Jordan returned last fall invigorated and ready to roll.
“He promised me he would do better and he came back ready for cross country,” Edney said. “I knew he wasn’t much of a cross country guy, that he’s more a 400 and 800-meter guy, but he had to run cross country like everyone else.”
After cross country season, Jordan was prepared for the indoor season.
“I felt healthier and stronger than ever before,” Jordan said. “I’m having a ball. I didn’t know how I would run.”
Jordan’s best time in the 500-meter run last year was 1:18.12. At the first meet of the indoor season, the Yale Opener, Jordan’s time in the 500-meter run was 1:12.87. Last week, at the Gotham Cup at the 168th Street New York Armory, Jordan’s time improved to 1:12.03.
“He’s definitely on the right path,” Edney said. “He’s paying more attention to detail. He’s stretching properly and taking care of his body more. He’s in the weight room more. He knows that running in college is a totally different ballgame. It took a year for him to get adjusted to college and I think he’s found himself.”
Jordan agrees.
“I’m very excited about it,” Jordan said. “It’s a great feeling. I think I have it in my mindset that I can do it, that I’m going to stay healthy and run better. I have a lot to run for now. I walked into the (New York) Armory and for the first time, I realized how great this was. I’m running and not sitting in the stands, recording it (like he did last year when injured).
Added Jordan, “This is definitely the start for me. I know I can do better. I know I have a chance to qualify for ECAC and perhaps the nationals.”
Edney believes that only better things lie ahead for Jordan.
“He has promise,” Edney said. “I would not be surprised if he ran a 1:10 (in the 500-meter). He’s strictly a 400-800 guy, but he moves at a steady pace, so the 500 is good for him now.”
Jordan is an honors college student who plans on going to law school, maybe even R-N’s fine law school. He doesn’t know what course of law he will pursue.
“I’m leaning towards corporate law,” Jordan said.
So the guy with the unique first name is making a name for himself on the track – as long as that name is D.J. Jordan and not the one that’s on his birth certificate.
