Better late than never for ACC's Kelley

Aurora Central's Anthony Kelley is committed to play basketball next fall at UIC.
(Terence Guider-Shaw/For the Beacon News)

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For most Division I high school basketball players, their recruitment starts in their sophomore year and ends around the start of their senior year.

For Aurora Central Catholic senior Anthony Kelley, the process was a whole lot different. His only began in December and ended on Thursday with his signature on a letter of intent to play at UIC.

“To be honest, it was an interesting road to where we are now,” said Kelley, a 6-foot-6 guard who averaged 20 points, three rebounds, two steals and a block this season.

A year ago, Kelley could only dream of Division I basketball. At the time, only small Division III colleges were showing him interest.

Playing at a small high school like Aurora Central didn’t help, especially since he never played on the AAU scene. Every year he bypassed AAU to participate in track.

“I think he probably would have more schools interested in him if he did play AAU,” Aurora Central Catholic coach Nathan Drye said. “We started the recruiting process in December. It worked out really well, but I thought it might happen a little sooner.”

Kelley showed early into his senior season that he was a Division I talent. With his size, shooting ability and athleticism, Drye thought it was only a matter of time before schools picked up on him.

It didn’t happen according to plan.

“It was kind of weird,” Drye said. “It was really weird at the time. Some schools seemed to know what they were doing more so than other schools. Some schools called four times in a row and then you wouldn’t hear from them. A lot of people will tell you what you want hear when you’re talking to them. Anybody who came to a game was impressed by what he can do. I think that was the key – being able to see him.”

North Dakota State was the first Division I school to contact him. That happened in December. Shortly after that, he played well against Hyde Park at the MLK Classic and even more schools began calling. It was around January that UIC first contacted him. He was then offered by UIC coach Jimmy Collins during his visit to the campus after his high school season.

UIC’s proximity to Kelley’s family and friends was key, but also that UIC has brought in players from small schools and had success. Freshman Robert “Robo” Kreps was the perfect example for Kelley.

“I think they do a good job of looking at the big picture,” Kelley said. “They went in and found the details. They did their homework on it. They look at sleepers. They told me, ‘You’re a sleeper. We believe you have potential. With the upside you have, we think you can be something.’”

Drye can confirm that.

“He’s 6-6 and he can shoot,” Drye said. “I think he’s also going to make good decisions. He can see people. I think he’s going to be an offensive force. It’s going to take him some time to adjust, but he’s going to be a force.”

Kelley said, “I see myself coming in and being an offensive boost, be able to come off the bench and do what they need me to do. If they need me to rebound, that’s what I’m going to do. If they need me just to shoot, I’ll do that. I think I can come in as offensive threat with my ability to shoot and just pretty much attack.”