'I was never gonna leave him': Outfielder Kane Kepley follows former head coach to UNC

Kane Kepley talked to fellow baseball teammate Gray Betts late in his first season at Liberty University. Kepley was a walk-on. He needed financial aid help but didn't know how to ask.

“Coach Jackson is the best,” Betts told Kepley. “He understands this stuff.”

Later that week in May 2023, before Kepley could even ask, Flames' head coach Scott Jackson approached him during a Thursday practice. Liberty was preparing for a series at Eastern Kentucky. Jackson told Kepley he had earned a scholarship.

When Jackson left Liberty last summer for an assistant coach position with UNC, Kepley followed, transferring after two seasons with the Flames. 

“I was never gonna leave him, no matter what, because he gave me the chance to play DI ball when a lot of other schools didn't,” Kepley said. “Him taking care of me at that time, it meant the most to me.” 

In 108 games at Liberty, Kepley batted .322 with a .956 OPS, 10 home runs and 50 RBIs. He walked 92 times to only 49 strikeouts while swiping 42 bags. A stellar defender and on-base machine, he was named to the 2024 CUSA All-Conference Team. D1Baseball ranked him as the eighth-best hitter in the 2024 transfer class.

UNC head coach Scott Forbes said Kepley will likely leadoff and start in center field on opening day. He will fill the void left in center by Vance Honeycutt, a Gold Glover who broke the program record for home runs and was selected No. 22 overall in the 2024 MLB Draft.

“He's a special player,” Forbes said. “Different type player than Vance, but he's not different from the standpoint [that] he plays extremely hard. He can really run the bases. He's left-handed. He's probably not going to hit 30 home runs, but he's got some power in there, so we're lucky to have him.”

In high school, Kepley helped South Rowan High School win a 3A state championship and was named to the All-State Team. At 5-foot-8, Kepley received several Division II offers but few in Division I. 

During his senior year, Kepley hit over .500 in a Perfect Game Tournament. Jackson was there. Kepley grabbed his interest. Jackson invited the Salisbury, N.C., native to a camp in Lynchburg, Va. 

“A kid's got to have a little luck with those camps,” Kepley's dad, Chuck Kepley, said. “And Kane hit one of the furthest balls he's ever hit in his life. He weighed 157 pounds at that time and hit one about the 380-mark about two feet from the top of the fence for a triple.”

Jackson put Kepley on first base to evaluate his base running in game situations. He stole second. He stole third. Then he scored on a ground ball.

A few pitches later, Jackson told Kepley to go back to first. Another stolen pillow. Another. He darted home on a pass ball, sliding in head first.

Kepley didn't know anything about his future. Jackson told him nothing at the time. But he was the one who gave Kepley an opportunity to compete at Liberty.

“I just really admire Kane and his family because they trusted me,” Jackson said. “Whenever you invite a kid to your program and say, ‘Hey, we really need you, I think you're going to be a really good player for us, but we don't have any scholarship money for you,’ it sounds like you're talking out of both sides of your mouth. So for him to trust me, to come into our program and do his thing — just the way he plays and how hard he works and what a great teammate he is — all those things just [stood] out really early.”

At the start of his first season, Kepley wasn't in the Flames' lineup.

Kepley is humble and quiet. He works hard. He could always run down balls in center field. He could always swipe a bag. He could always work a walk. What he lacked was power. So when Kepley got to Liberty, he worked to get stronger. One day, he sent his parents a video of him squatting 455 pounds. 

“I was just shocked,” his dad said. “When he started lifting weights at Liberty is when everything changed for him.”

He worked his way on and up the Flames' lineup card in late March 2023.

To lead off the May 13, 2023, game against Eastern Kentucky — his second on scholarship — Kepley hit the first pitch over the right field fence for his first collegiate home run. In the third inning, he tripled to center. He doubled in the fifth. He added three singles to finish 6-for-7, tying the program record for hits in a game. 

Kepley was the first Liberty player to hit for the cycle.

In his second season at Liberty, Kepley hit .330 with a 1.003 OPS. Other schools took notice and wanted him to enter the transfer portal.

Kepley played for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks in the Cape Cod Baseball League this past summer. He led the league in walks and was third in on-base percentage at .449. 

While Kepley was on the Cape, Chuck Kepley got a call from J Padgett, Tar Heel pitcher Cameron Padgett's dad. Kane Kepley and Cameron Padgett are good friends and played baseball together growing up in Salisbury.

“What do you think the odds [are] that Kane would come to Carolina?” J Padgett asked.

“He's not gonna leave Scott Jackson,” Chuck Kepley said.

Kane Kepley called his dad a few weeks later. He told him Jackson was leaving Liberty to return to North Carolina.  

Kepley committed to UNC in July.

“That trust that I have with him, him giving me a chance, that loyalty I have with him is all there,” Kepley said. “I wanted to stay with him as he's coming to Carolina. That's been a big part of it. I go to him about anything I need. He's there for me, and I'll always be there for him.”

Kepley looks up to Jackson. He views him as an uncle.

“He loves that man to death,” Kepley's dad said. 

On opening day at the Bosh: Kane Kepley in center field. Scott Jackson in the dugout.

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