NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- Jordan Battle smiles about being a football player while growing up in Norfolk. He had his sights set on the gridiron until the elements pushed a young Jordan away.
"I was originally a football player, believe or not," he said. "One day it was super cold outside and I was just like 'I can't do this anymore, being outside in this weather and stuff.'"
He was drawn to basketball, an indoor sport that suited him more and so far it's seemed to work out. During his childhood in the Mermaid City, he became more than familiar with Old Dominion.
"ODU was everything for me as a kid," noted Battle. "I always went to all the little kids camps, all the elite camps. I always wanted to go to ODU as a little kid so having an opportunity to do it now was everything for me."
The guard shined in high school at Norfolk Collegiate, scoring more than 2,800 career points and earning first team All-State honors. The start of his college career took him out west to Utah Valley. After a stop at Salt Lake Community College, he moved back to the East Coast, spending last season at Coastal Carolina, but now he's returned home for his final year of college eligibility, where family and friends can cheer him on from the stands.
"I've been in Utah, I've been in South Carolina, so it was kind of far," the guard pointed out. "It was kind of hard [for my family] to travel to the games because it was so expensive and all of that, but them being here is everything."
"One of the new guys coming in is someone that you guys saw and you watched him grow up," added head coach Mike Jones. "He is a Norfolk, Virginia, native. He is a 757 guy."
Battle described himself as a tenacious, scoring, play-making guard. While his game jumped out to Jones, it might be his new player's attitude that he considers the biggest slam dunk, as the fifth-year brings positive energy into the gym every single day.
"He's got an infectious energy about him," Jones remarked. "It never seems like he's having a bad day, he's loud, but good loud. The things that he's saying you want him saying."
"As a kid, I wasn't better than everybody so I always had to do something that was different," Battle noted. "That's what made me different, having energy, and that's kind of just stuck with me until now."
The former Oak has returned home as a seasoned college basketball veteran with an iron will, hoping to be one of the strongest links in a chain that will pull the Monarchs to a successful season.
"Me being a great teammate, a great leader, being vocal, that will be everything for this team," Battle said. "I'm the type of person that wants to lead by example so if I'm on my P's and Q's, I see the rest doing the same."
"He affects winning," Jones added. "He's somebody who we're going to rely on for a whole lot this year."
Last season, Battle led Coastal Carolina with 12.8 points per game, shooting 42 percent from the floor and 43 percent from three-point range. He was also second on the squad with 31.1 minutes per outing. The guard scored 20 points against Old Dominion back on February 28, adding that to a 15 point performance versus the Monarchs from January 25.
Battle and ODU open their season November 3 at Miami (Ohio).
