30 James Jordan

James Jordan was born James Allen Jordan on May 26, 1925, in Chester, West Virginia, to John S. Jordan and Vida F. Dillon Jordan.  Jordan was a key reserve on the legendary University of Kentucky men’s basketball teams from 1946 to 1948, playing under Hall of Fame coach Adolph Rupp during one of the most dominant stretches in program history. Jordan was part of the Wildcats’ historic 1947–48 squad, which won the NCAA Championship and later formed the nucleus of the gold medal–winning 1948 U.S. Olympic basketball team.

Jordan was named honorary captain of the 1943 All-West Virginia high school basketball team. He joined the Navy and qualified for the V-12; he was stationed at Mount St. Mary’s College, where he played forward and was the leading scorer of the Mason-Dixon Conference. In the summer of 1944, the Navy sent him to the University of North Carolina. At the end of his first season of play, he was chosen for the All Southern Conference Team, of which he was the high scorer, and also to the Helm’s All-American Second Team in 1945. In 1946, he led the Tar Heels to the NCAA finals, but they were defeated by the Oklahoma A & M Aggies. He was chosen to the All-Southern Conference Team and First Team All-American. He graduated from UNC with a bachelor of science in 1946.

From 1946-48 he attended the University of Kentucky, where he played basketball with the Wildcats’ NCAA championship team of ’48.  Jordan’s first season with the Wildcats saw the team go 34–3 and dominate the Southeastern Conference. Though Kentucky narrowly missed a national championship that year, the team’s potential was clear, and Jordan contributed as a steady bench presence behind stars like Ralph Beard, Alex Groza, and Wah Wah Jones.

In the 1947–48 season, Kentucky captured its first NCAA Championship in program history, finishing with a 36–3 record. Jordan again served as a valuable reserve on a team that became known as the “Fabulous Five” — a group that included Beard, Groza, Jones, Cliff Barker, and Kenny Rollins.

Jordan’s ability to step in when needed and support the team in practice and game situations was crucial to maintaining the Wildcats’ high standard of play. The 1947–48 Wildcats were not only national champions, but they were also selected as the core of the U.S. Olympic basketball team that went on to win the gold medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.  Jordan received his Masters in Education from Kentucky that same year.

Later he was selected to the All-Time Ohio Valley Pre-1950 team [which includes a young man from Martins Ferry, Ohio, Alex Groza.]

After teaching school for several years, he received his law degree from West Virginia University and returned to his hometown in Chester, WV, to practice for the next 35 years. He was quite active in the community where he served as President of the East Liverpool, Ohio, YMCA (on Board for 30 years); East Liverpool Hospital Board; director of Hancock County Savings and Loan; President of the Hancock County Bar Association; Hancock County School Board; director of the First National Bank of Chester; President of Chester Kiwanis Club. He and his wife, Ann, retired to Florida, where he became an avid golfer and a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Sebastian.

He died October 14, 1999.