Kevin Jordan is a 19-year-old young man out of Columbus, GA, who in his senior year of high school decided to attend Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC. Wake Forest head coach Tom Walter, son of former Baseball Factory CFO Ralph Walter, had shown interest in Kevin early on because of his smooth swing and blazing speed. Jordan was a highly touted prospect who played in the 2009 Under Armour All-America Game, powered by Baseball Factory, and was drafted by the Yankees in the 19th round of the 2010 draft. Despite being drafted, Jordan decided to honor his commitment to Wake Forest and Coach Walter and attend the university in the fall of 2010. Coach Walter promoted his baseball program to recruits as a family atmosphere, and he certainly proved this fact on Monday, February 7th.

Kevin had not been 100% for his entire senior season of baseball and in April was diagnosed with a condition affecting his kidney called Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic Autoantibody (ANCA). He spent the summer preceding his first semester on kidney dialysis and just before classes began in August, doctors recommended that a transplant was needed as soon as possible. When no family members proved to be matches for Kevin, Coach Walter signed up for the compatibility test and was approved on January 28th. Player and coach underwent surgery together on February 7th and are both expected to fully recover. While Kevin’s return is greatly awaited, he will need the season to rehabilitate. Coach Walter, on the other hand, plans to be back with his team by the start of the upcoming season. He was quoted earlier regarding his decision saying, “My number one priorities in life are my family and my team and I'll do anything to help any one of those people.” When asked how he felt his relationship with Kevin would change following the surgery, Coach Walter said, “Certainly Kevin and I are going to be forever joined at the hip, so to speak.”

From the Baseball Factory family, we would like to extend our best wishes to both Kevin and Coach Walter. We hope for a speedy recovery and the chance to see Kevin back on the field next spring!

For more information on Kevin Jordan and Coach Walter’s incredible story, see the stories below featured on ESPN.com, Baseball America.com and CNN.

ESPN Article: Link
Baseball America Article: Link
CNN Video: Link
Local Winston-Salem Special Coverage: Link