Kenneth Kelley

Cooley · September 14, 2005

September 13, 2005

Kelley Back on the Scene

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TexasHoops.com Recruiting Staff

For the past year, Kenneth Kelley has been pretty much under the major college radar screen. After a solid freshman year at Tulsa in 2003-04, the Dallas Carter High School product and the Golden Hurricanes decided to part ways, and Kelley seemingly fell off the face of the earth. But what the high-scoring 6-foot-1, 185-pound combo guard was doing was preparing himself for a comeback. He'll be playing the 2005-06 season at Navarro College in Corsicana and should resurface at the Division I level afterwards.

Rivals.com

Kelley has been at Navarro since arriving on campus in January. He's worked out with the team ever since and will project as one of the top players for the squad this season. It's been a semi-long road for Kelley, but he's definitely learned from his experiences. "He's more mature now," said Navarro assistant coach Johnny Estelle. "Especially on the court. Before his shot selection - there was none. He'd launch up long threes and that's good as long as it goes in. But he understands things better now. He knows how to play, how to make the extra pass, how to feed the post."

While most have lost track of Kelley since his freshman year at Tulsa, some are on the ball. Two schools who barely lost out on him when they recruited him out of Carter, North Texas and TCU, have been well aware of his whereabouts and have offered him scholarships again. In fact, it's been highly rumored that the Horned Frogs - who were essentially second on Kelley's list two years ago - will eventually land the high-scoring combo guard. "He's probably going to end up doing that, but he'll wait to sign late and see," Estelle said. "We will see how things go this season."

With that said, Kelley will play out the year and revisit things in the spring. While he very well may end up inking with Neil Dougherty's squad, you never know. "I think with Kenneth's potential, he could play anywhere he wants to," Estelle said. "It all depends on him and building on what he already has. A lot of schools may be backing off because they think he's just going to go to TCU. But we'll see."

Texas Hoops Analysis (Fall of 2002): Kenneth can play either guard position. He is a smooth athlete who can break down the defense off the dribble and finish in the paint. He can really stroke it from the 3-point line and can create his own shot. He is a very good ball handler and passer, pushes the ball up court and has a good feel for the game. He plays hard and is a solid defender on the ball.

I personally like UNT's chances. TCU has verbal comittments from similar type players and rumor has it that they will also get the services of another area transfer. Kelley was also good friends in HS with Seneca Collins and a teammate at Tulsa. Would be a good pick.