Ludwigsburg. Basketball games between the Bundesliga giants MHP Ludwigsburg and Ratiopharm Ulm are always something special. However, the opening game of the play-off quarter-final series on Saturday was very special. In the first of a maximum of five games, the score was 83:83 after regulation time and the overtime didn’t bring a winner either with the score being 90:90. Only after another five minutes did the giants defeat their competitor with 104:99. On Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. the Swabian basketball teams will meet for the second time in the MHP Arena. Then it will also become clear on which team the battle of attrition has left greater marks.
Return to Indiana home
With 42:58 minutes, Jordan Hulls was the longest on the field for the Ludwigsburg team. The game organizer of the giants wants to throw in everything again in his last season before retiring. “We can keep up with everyone, we’ve shown that throughout the year. We will be focused and our goal is to win the Bundesliga title,” Hulls told our newspaper a few days ago.
A week ago, the 32-year-old announced that he would retire after the play-offs. In his home country, he takes a job on the coaching team at Indiana University. Where the American once played at college, Hulls will be responsible for recruiting and team coordination from the summer. “I’m involved in meetings, game planning and video analysis. I look after the selection of new college players and organize a lot in the background,” the playmaker explains his tasks. “I can also learn a lot from head coach Michael Woodson.”
Hulls likes this job and the associated return so much that he retires as a professional at the age of 32. “It wasn’t an easy decision, but an opportunity arose at home. I was born and raised there. We have a house there and my parents live there. I can take the next step there and it’s an opportunity for us as a family to position ourselves for the future,” explains the father of two sons and one daughter. His injury problems this season were not a decisive factor. Hull’s calf had always been a concern. “My injury situation was really annoying this season. But I feel good overall and could play at this level for another two or three years.” Rather, he wants to lay the foundation for his future career. “I have a passion for teaching the sport of basketball and I have the skills to do it at a high level.”
So Hulls quits at the peak of his career. After a year each in Poland and Kosovo and two Bundesliga seasons each in Bremerhaven, Würzburg and Ludwigsburg, he closes the European chapter. “It wasn’t always easy. I learned a lot about life here in Europe and saw different cultures,” he looks back. “We’ve made friends here and it’s going to be hard to put that behind us. But on the other hand, now is the right moment.”
In 2019, Hulls reached the final of the Europe Cup with Würzburg and was named the competition’s Most Valuable Player. His two seasons in Ludwigsburg were also successful with victory in the main round and play-off semifinals in 2021 and 3rd place in the Champions League this season. “Some great things have happened in my career, but of course this season is something special,” he emphasizes. And Hulls doesn’t expect to be hanging up the boots after the games against Ulm.
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