PILOT MOUNTAIN — Jordan Jessup has become Pilot Mountain’s answer to Tom Brady.

The former Surry Community College and East Surry hurler, coming off a record-setting summer season for the Kernersville Bulldogs, has gone from athlete to cover boy. While he won’t be gracing the cover of Details or GQ like the Patriots quarterback, Jessup has landed on the front of Reebok’s 2010 spring sports uniform catalog. The publication will consist of a 70,000-unit run that will be shipped across the country.

“How often does that get to happen, especially for someone around here?” Jessup marveled. “I think it’s a big honor and I’m pretty thrilled about it. It’s pretty cool.”

While the skills that made him become the strikeout leader of the Carolina-Virginia Collegiate League were crucial, Jessup benefited from a bit of hometown luck when it came to being picked.

Kirk Harris, a national brand manager for Reebok Uniforms, earned his associate’s degree from Surry Community College, where Jessup played the past two years. Harris was also a baseball player, competing under former coach Mark Tucker, who is now the school’s athletic director. Nowadays, Harris is employed by Prospect Hill-based Royal Park Uniforms and represents Reebok for all team products across the state. Royal Park is the official uniform licensee for Reebok, which has requested that Royal Park Uniforms design, produce, warehouse, ship, and sell Reebok uniforms at all levels of play.

The task in front of Harris seemed simple enough: Find a cover picture for the spring catalog. But after looking over more than 500 photos, Harris was still searching for that perfect shot. So, he contacted Tucker and asked him to send action shots of Surry players.

“I couldn’t make up (my) mind whether to use a pic of one of our professional players, youth travel players or a college player,” Harris explained via e-mail. “When he sent me Jordan Jessup’s pic, I knew it was a no-brainer and that was the picture we needed to use. Jordan is an above average baseball player and the picture is magnificent.”

The shot is of Jessup, who will throw for Appalachian State in the fall, during his freshman year against Florence-Darlington. Another reason it was selected was because it shows the Reebok logos on his jersey, pants and shoes.

A total of five Reebok uniform catalogs will be in circulation in 2009-10, one of which has Peyton Manning on its front. Jessup said he expected to be pictured inside when he learned his shot was going to be in the catalog, but landing on the cover was a surprise.

Contact Ed Phillipps at ephillipps@mtairynews.com or 719-1921.