Even though the nation’s leading shot-blocker finished high school only about an hour away from Corvallis, the Beavers couldn’t suit up Kelley until he first went through two other colleges … and a few teeth.
Hailing from Gervais, Oregon, a small town of about 2,500 outside of Salem, Kelley played for a Class 3A school that didn’t make the state tournament, and didn’t have either the exposure or grades necessary to make a jump straight into Division I. He told the Eugene Register-Guard he was “more of a C-plus, B-minus student, which didn’t really help me in the long run coming out of high school.”
Kelley found a home at Eugene’s Northwest Christian University, coached by former Oregon star Luke Jackson, but wound up sitting out as a freshman when a hit to his mouth uncovered dental issues that required him to miss time.
People are also reading…
“He had some really serious infections,” Benjie Hedgecock, coach of Kelley’s travel team, told the Register-Guard. “He did not take care of his teeth growing up. It all came to fruition his first couple years in college.
“Eventually he just said, ‘Man, I’m going to have to get dentures.’ It’s true.”
Kelley averaged 5.6 blocks as a redshirt freshman in 2016-17, setting the school’s single-game record with 10 blocks against Southern Oregon, but academics kept him from taking an OSU scholarship offer right away.
He spent last season at Lane Community College in Eugene, before moving to Corvallis, and is now is making a name for himself in his first of two remaining seasons of college eligibility.
“I’m just really happy for him, really excited for him,” Jackson told the Register-Guard. “I knew the potential was always there.”
