If you were to watch Michael Jordan’s NBA Hall of Fame induction speech on YouTube, a familiar face to the Duke campus is present amid the frequent cutaways to Jordan’s family and friends.
The face belongs to Ed Ibarguen, general manager of the Duke University Golf Club. The PGA master professional has been Jordan’s swing coach and friend since Jordan’s playing days at North Carolina in the early 1980s.
The speech Ibarguen saw in person has become controversial in the weeks since Jordan gave it. Some saw it as petty and consumed with old rivalries. Others said it was not befitting of His Airness—beneath the greatest basketball player of all time.
Ibarguen knew the real story, though. His unique position as a longtime friend to Jordan made him aware that the public was finally seeing the real MJ, one of the most competitive athletes of his or any generation.
“I thought he was perfect,” Ibarguen said. “[Jordan said,] ‘Everyone talks about how competitive I am. Let me show you what drove me.’ I thought it was very genuine and very much Michael Jordan behind closed doors, which the public doesn’t get to see much.”
Ibarguen has known the Jordan behind closed doors for 25 years now. Their story begins in Chapel Hill.
Early Days with the Phenom
Ibarguen and Jordan began their unique relationship during Jordan’s last year at North Carolina, in 1984. The junior, already a national star after two dynamic years playing under Dean Smith, wanted to take up golf as an escape from the rigors of the hardwood.
At the time, Ibarguen was the PGA head golf professional at UNC Finley, the Tar Heels’ college golf course. It was early in the career of a man who would one day become a Golf Digest top 100 instructor. Not that that mattered—he was about to gain a very high-profile student in Jordan.
“He was an excellent student,” Ibarguen said. “You’d show him something, and he’d work really hard on it. Then he’d come back and you’d see such improvement. He’s a visual learner and very cerebral about his game…. His progress was amazing for the first three years.”
Jordan was drafted third by the Chicago Bulls in the 1984 NBA Draft, and he would average 28.2 points per game in a Rookie of the Year season. His second year, though, was marred by injury. A broken foot sidelined the young phenom, who took the break as a chance to get his degree from North Carolina—and improve his golf game.
“He spent a lot of time working on his game that summer,” said Ibarguen. “He probably got down to a 6 or 7 handicap.”
Working as Jordan’s swing coach that summer gave Ibarguen an unexpected perk—Jordan’s brand new Mercedes convertible.
“He couldn’t go anywhere without being followed, so we actually switched cars,” Ibarguen said, laughing. “I got to drive a Mercedes convertible all summer, while he was incognito in my car.”
Jordan reunited with Ibarguen after every season, and he followed Ibarguen to the Duke Golf Club when the golf professional moved in 1988.
Ibarguen tells the story of his move while staying fully aware of its unusual circumstances—for a Carolina guy to move to Duke, while keeping the same job, is something not normally done along Tobacco Road.
The switch was also not lost on legendary former athletic director Tom Butters.
“Tom Butters actually had the guts to hire a UNC guy,” Ibarguen said. “After we got done with my interview, he called everybody out of his office, and leaned over his desk and said smiling, ‘You better be as good as I think you are for me to hire an SOB from Carolina.’”
By this time, Jordan was widely considered one of the game’s best players, known both for his incredible scoring prowess—he led the league in points per game seven years in a row—as well as his burgeoning celebrity through his commercials for Nike and McDonald’s.
On the golf course, however, he showed no signs that the fame had gotten to his head. Working on his game with Ibarguen during scorching Carolina summer days, Jordan endured practices that he called “harder than Phil Jackson’s,” while drinking from a garden hose and playing behind the Washington Duke Inn daily.
The unexpected difficulty of the game had grabbed him. He gained appreciation from the early practices with Ibarguen, a feeling which remains with him even now.
“He fell in love with golf,” Ibarguen said. “To this day, when you ask him what his passion is besides basketball, it’s golf.”
Later Days with the Legend
Jordan has continued to work with Ibarguen, partly because of how much the practice facilities at the Duke University Golf Club suit a man of his celebrity. The range has a section that can be blocked from the public, allowing Ibarguen to critique Jordan’s swing without autograph hounds bothering them.
“It’s a perfect setup at Duke,” Ibarguen said. “We can do some serious work on his game without him getting hassled too much…. Plus, he loves the golf course, really loves playing it, and he realizes what a jewel it is.”
Jordan’s game has improved greatly since his most recent retirement in 2003. He shot several sub-70 rounds last summer, all from the championship tees. Jordan always plays all the way back—it’s a matter of pride for him.
His frequent visits to Durham have given him a different perspective on the school that he loathed as an undergrad. While he still will not stay at the Washington Duke Inn (Jordan can’t bring himself to spend the night on Duke’s campus), he has developed a relationship with Mike Krzyzewski and has, according to Ibarguen, “respect for the Duke coach and his basketball program.”
Last summer, Jordan suffered a wrist injury during a round prior to a lesson at Duke. He visited Durham anyway, and was brought to the Duke Athletic training staff while here. He was amazed at how well he was treated, even though he went to the school across 15-501.
“In his exposure to Duke, he’s realized that there’s a lot to like here,” said Ibarguen. “It’s interesting—as an undergrad at Carolina and Duke, you have blinders on and are conditioned to hate the other school. That’s the way he was.”
While he may have softened up towards Duke, Jordan, at 46, still has the competitive fire that made him a legend. The public saw a glimpse of it in his induction speech. Ibarguen sees it every time he gets to coach him.
“He has a fire,” Ibarguen said. “People talk about how much he gambles, but it has nothing to do with money. On the first tee, he only wants to bet whatever makes [his opponent] nervous.… He will get out there and play just as hard for nothing. He just wants to beat you.”
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