AG’s Kelly fell in love with basketball early
Former Albert Gallatin standout Katie Kelly was smitten with basketball at an early age.
鈥淚 was actually in diapers when I started dribbling a basketball,鈥� Kelly revealed. 鈥淢y parents noticed the interest I took in basketball at a very young age when I would cry because I didn鈥檛 want to take a nap because Larry Bird was on TV and I wanted to watch him. Of course my number 33 is because of Larry Bird.
鈥淢y dad Tom noticed there was something there and was a big influence along with my mother, Brenda. He got a plastic basketball hoop and took it down in the basement and I was hooked. That鈥檚 all I wanted to do, I wanted to play ball. From there I started playing at the high school in third grade in a little league. Then Dick Adamovich, who was a big influence on me in basketball, got in touch with my dad and he wanted me to play for Asbury in the YMCA League in Uniontown. Chris Cluss comes into play there, that was a great league. My dad and I practiced every day. Chris Cluss took a tremendous interest in my career and my life. He got me involved in AAU basketball and that opened a lot of doors and I was noticed by college scouts. We had a great AAU team from the Uniontown area.鈥�
Kelly became a four-year starter at the point guard for Albert Gallatin and received the Quad A Freshman of the Year award. She was a four-year Fayette County All-County Team choice. She was named to several All-Tournament teams during her career and was an MVP choice on five different occasions at these tourneys.
During her senior season she was the Pittsburgh Post Gazette WPIAL 鈥淎thlete of the Week鈥� and was the leading scorer and had the most steals in the Franklin Regional High School Snowflake Classic.
Albert Gallatin grew as a team from a .500 team. Her freshman season, the Colonials went 9-14 and 1-9 in the section in 1997-98. In 1998-99, they were 15-7 and 6-6 in the section. In Kelly鈥檚 senior campaign, they posted a record of 23-4 and were 11-1 in section play.
鈥淐oming in as a freshman we were about a .500 squad,鈥� Kelly remembers. 鈥淐oach Kamele Meikle was the coach my freshman year and then Ann Capozzi came in and she turned that team around. She started putting people into positions where they could succeed, and she put in plays that helped people excel. As a team we came together, and the team chemistry came together. You could see us building toward that senior season.鈥�
AG played in the WPIAL tournament in Kelly鈥檚 senior year, beating Montour, 66-43, and losing to North Allegheny, 70-46. In the PIAA playoffs, they were defeated by Altoona, 52-43.
鈥淚 think our losses in the WPIAL tournament and the PIAA was lack of experience being there,鈥� Kelly said. 鈥淚 think a lot of those teams had been in tournament play and had experienced that. That takes into account nerves and all that because we definitely had the talent.
鈥淲e were a close knit team on and off the court and it showed when we played. We got better and better we kind of exploded my senior year. We had some very good talent like Marissa Gudac and Louie Hall, who was a freshman when I was a senior.鈥�
The 5-foot-4 Kelly averaged 23.6 points, 6.5 assists, 6.1 rebounds and 5.2 steals per game as a senior for AG. She finished her high school career with 1,687 career points. She was the 缅北禁地 Player of the Year for 1999-2000, was a first-team All-WPIAL by the Post-Gazette and was a member of the 缅北禁地 Fantastic Five Class AAAA First Team as a senior.
鈥淟ooking back now it鈥檚 breathtaking,鈥� Kelly said. 鈥淚n the moment you don鈥檛 realize what you are accomplishing. In the moment you鈥檙e thankful, you鈥檙e appreciative, but you don鈥檛 get caught up in it because then you become complacent. I had some things working against me, my size. My freshman year I was 4-foot-9 and I hit a growth spurt going into my senior year and was 5-foot-4. I had that working against me, I made up for it with hard work and dedication.鈥�
When Kelly graduated from Albert Gallatin in 2000, she decided to play college basketball at Eastern Kentucky.
鈥淚 actually have a couple of folders full of letters from schools,鈥� Kelly stated. 鈥淚 was getting recruited heavily. The summer going into my senior year Chris Cluss called my parents and said there is a showcase tournament at Robert Morris. I went and Eastern Kentucky was there and contacted me through Coach Cluss. I visited and fell in love with the campus.鈥�
Kelly played four seasons at EKU on teams that went 22-6 in 2000-2001, 23-8 in 2001-02 including a trip to the WNIT. They were 18-11 in 2002-03 and 15-15 in Kelly鈥檚 senior year 2003-04. Kelly is fourth in career scoring for the Lady Colonels with 1,626 career points and second in career assists with 395. Kelly was first team All-Ohio Valley Conference in 2003-04 and second team All-OVC in 2002-03.
鈥淚 made the most of the opportunity,鈥� Kelly said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard for me to take credit for any of that because I had such good influences and important people in my life that got me there and pushed me and believed in me and that鈥檚 big. You have times where you might doubt yourself, but I had people that believed in me.鈥�
Kelly wanted to pursue professional basketball when she graduated, but it didn鈥檛 work out.
鈥淢y dream was to play professional basketball and from there to coach,鈥� Kelly explained. 鈥淏ut sometimes life has other plans for you. I stayed one more year and got my masters degree in sport administration. The love for the game was still there. I tried out in Atlanta for the WNBA, had a good tryout and was in communication with teams. I got impatient and frustrated, I got an agent and went overseas to Germany to tryout. I had offers from teams in Germany and Holland. I had visa problems, was young and dumb I got frustrated and decided to walk away from the game. It remains one of my biggest regrets.鈥�
Kelly started working for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, she is currently in Tallahassee, Florida and is a recreation specialist for a prison there. She is single and still tries to get back home to Fayette County as much as she can.
George Von Benko鈥檚 鈥淢emory Lane鈥� column appears in the Monday editions of the 缅北禁地. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.