WASHINGTON -- The Washington Wizards, who have not won a playoff game in 15 years, hired a coach Thursday from a team that has reached the NBA Finals two years in a row.

Eddie Jordan, an assistant with the Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Nets, becomes the Wizards' seventh coach in six seasons.

	Eddie Jordan says the young Wizards' roster is 'oozing with talent.'

Unlike Michael Jordan, who was dismissed last month by team owner Abe Pollin in a much-criticized move, Eddie Jordan has ties to the capital. The Washington native played basketball for Archbishop Carroll High School in town.

"I'm coming home to Washington and I am proud to be head coach of the Washington Wizards,'' Jordan said. "We have a lot of young talent on this roster and I look forward to working with these guys and developing this team into a contender.

"These guys are oozing with potential, oozing with talent,'' he said.

The 48-year-old Jordan replaces Doug Collins, who was hand-picked by Michael Jordan and fired last month after consecutive 37-45 seasons. The Wizards' last victory in a playoff game was in 1988.

Like the Wizards, the Nets spent years toiling in the bottom rung of the NBA before making the finals the past two seasons, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2002 and the San Antonio Spurs this year. Jordan was often cited as the creative mind behind the Nets' offensive style, which featured point guard Jason Kidd.

Before joining the Nets, Eddie Jordan coached the Sacramento Kings for the final 15 games of the 1996-97 season and the entire 1997-98 season, compiling a 33-64 record.

The Wizards pursued him after failing to land higher-profile coaches Larry Brown and Jeff Van Gundy. Brown went to Detroit and Van Gundy to Houston.

Pollin said he initially intended to hire a successor to Michael Jordan as president of basketball operations and have that person choose the coach, but he didn't want to miss a chance to get Eddie Jordan.

"I was not going to take the chance of losing this great guy to be my head coach,'' Pollin said, adding that he is continuing to interview people to run the team. General manager Wes Unseld remains nominally in charge, but said he would take an indefinite leave of absence for health reasons after next week's draft. The Wizards have the 10th pick in the first round.

Pollin said Jordan was the right coach for the young Wizards.

"He's a teacher,'' Pollin said. "He's great with young players. They respect him and work very, very hard for him.''

Jordan played eight seasons in the NBA with Cleveland, the Nets, the Lakers and Portland. He was a member of the 1982 Lakers team that won the NBA title.