Sport Management students in Brendan O’Hallarn’s Sport Media and Public Relations class came up with ODU Athletics feature story ideas, then reported and wrote these pieces for a class assignment. The assignment was created to provide feature content for the ODUSports website, and offer students the real-world learning experience of writing a story for the ODUSports website.
By: Kiersten Jefferson
In 2009, Jordan Baker, a young 8th-grade student from Hampton, Va., who was sitting in the stands of the Ted Constant Center watching the ODU men’s basketball, knew that this was a program that he had to be a part of.
From his June 2012 commitment to Old Dominion, to his first season of collegiate basketball in 2013-14 to his now final season in Monarch uniform, the 6-foot-2 205-pound guard has grown on and off the court. Working at the annual Jeff Jones Basketball Camps over the past few summers, as well as volunteering around the community, Jordan has been able to mentor various youth players ranging in ages 5-17 in areas of on-court skills, college life and everyday life. “It feels good working with the kids because I feel like I can give useful feedback to the future of the game and society,” said Baker.
During his freshman season, Jordan appeared in all 36 games. Last season, Baker’s junior year, he made 27 starts during the 38-game season. He finished third on the team for assists with 81 and finished second for steals with 38, while compiling 139 points to go along with 74 rebounds. Jordan was also named “Defensive Player of the Year” amongst the Monarch Team.
His on-court and off-court leadership have not gone unnoticed by his peers and the coaching staff. Earlier in September, Jordan was named Co-Captain for the 2016-17 season alongside senior forward Denzell Taylor.
With the departure (due to graduation) of leading scorers and former captains Aaron Bacote and Trey Freeman, Baker’s is still as encouraging as ever, “I’m very excited to play with the team we have this year. We have such a diverse group of guys with individual strengths and weaknesses. It allows us to possibly have a different leading scorer every night. This season, we as a team, will have to lead the pace," said Baker.
Baker’s overall ability to put pressure on his opponent and play both sides of the ball have been continued strengths throughout his ODU career. “I’ll never forget the memories and friendships I’ve made here,” said Baker. “My teammates have become more like my brothers. Not to mention the love and support from the fans of Old Dominion. That type of love and support is something like no other.”