The Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association is proud to announce that Larry Jordan of Southeastern High School is the recipient of the 2008 Paul Walker Award. The Paul Walker award is presented annually by the OHSBCA to an active coaching member of the association who has made significant contributions to high school basketball. The award is named in honor of the late Paul Walker, the longtime coach of Middletown High School. At the time of his retirement, he had the most wins as boy’s basketball coach in Ohio High School Basketball history with 695.

Larry Jordan has been a varsity basketball coach for 36 years. Thirty-three of those years have been spent at Southeastern High School with a record of 532-228. He also spent three years as a coach at Waverly High School with a 33-30 record. Overall, Jordan has a record of 565-258, and has received 17 League Championships, 10 District Championships,  three Regional Championships, and has reached the State Semi-Finals three times.

As a student, Jordan was a basketball player at Southeastern High School who graduated in 1964. During the 1963-64 season, he was selected Class A Player of the Year by the AP Poll. The Southeastern Panthers finished the season with a 24-1 record, their only loss occurring in the Regional Finals by two points.

Jordan received a basketball scholarship to Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky. He was a starting basketball player his sophomore, junior, and senior years and averaged double figures all three years. As a result, Jordan was selected to play in the Kentucky-Tennessee All-Star game in 1968 where Adolph Rupp of the University of Kentucky was his coach.

In January 1969 Jordan graduated from Morehead with a Bachelor of Arts in Education. He began his first teaching job that same month at Zane Trace Elementary School, teaching 5^th grade.  By June of the same year, Jordan had married his fiancée Joyce Ferrell. From 1969 to 1970, Jordan taught physical education and health at Zane Trace Junior High.  Also during this time, Jordan began his coaching career as a coach of the Zane Trace Reserve basketball team and head coach of varsity track.

Jordan returned to his alma mater, Southeastern High School, for the 1970-71 school year. Here he became a health and physical education teacher, head basketball coach, reserve basketball coach, and baseball coach. During this year he coached the varsity basketball team to a perfect 20-0 regular season record, but the team eventually lost to Waverly High School by two points in the District Finals. Jordan continued his career at Southeastern until 1996.

In the fall of that year, Jordan became the assistant principal and head basketball coach at Waverly High School. He would hold these positions for three years before returning to the Panthers of Southeastern. Jordan reclaimed his title as varsity head coach of the Panthers for the 2000-01 season. He has remained at Southeastern since that time, and recently completed his 36th year as head coach.

Larry and his wife Joyce have two sons, Mike (Lisa) Jordan and Chad (Tara) Jordan. They also have five grandchildren: Kyle, Broc, Anna, Gracie, and Scotlyn.