Jan. 21, 1998
Bahamian Bench
By Luanne Muller
ASU Student SID
When men's basketball head coach Don Newman peers down his bench, his options are limited. With just seven scholarship players, Newman's bench isn't as long as Duke or Arizona. While he has relied on his starting lineup for over 80 percent of the minutes played, Newman is finding senior Urit Kelly a productive option.
Kelly has come off the bench to give the Sun Devils depth both offensively and defensively. He has played in every game, averaging 14.7 minutes, and is shooting 55.4 percent from the field.
Last year, Kelly, a forward from Nassau, Bahamas, played in all 30 games and started in 24. He averaged 26 minutes per game and shot 40.6 percent from the floor. He scored a career-high 12 points against Houston Baptist, and had a career-high 13 rebounds in two different games.
Before coming to ASU, Kelly played at St. Gregory's College in Shawnee, Okla. He averaged 19.3 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 31 games. Kelly was a two-time first team All-Conference selection, and he also was named to the All-Region team.
Kelly graduated from S.C. McPherson High School in Nassau, Bahamas, in 1992. He only played basketball his senior year, but he set season records for most rebounds (92) and highest point average (23.9). He was also an All-Bahamian pick.
Kelly grew up in the Bahamas and only played basketball in the park with his friends before his senior year.
"I was scared to play in front of a lot of people," he said. "I didn't want to mess up and have a lot of people see me. My friends thought I could get a scholarship and play in college. They encouraged my to try out for the team."
He tried out and made it. He played high school basketball in the Bahamas, and he also played in a night league.
"Most of the guys had gone to college and came back to the Bahamas after they finished," he said of the players in the night league. "After I got out of high school, I stayed another year in the Bahamas to play with those guys. It was a good challenge for me to play against them."
Kelly and his team compiled a 23-1 record and won the night-league championship.
After playing basketball in both the Bahamas and the United States, Kelly has noticed some differences between the two.
"Basketball is more structured here," he said of the United States. "Back home, they just let you play. The referees let you get away with anything."
Aside from basketball, Kelly misses the ocean. He used to live two miles from the water.
"The weather is basically the same, though," he said. "Both places are warm. It's just more humid in the Bahamas."
Even though the weather was nice, growing up in the Bahamas was sometimes hard for Kelly.
"It was tough growing up in the Bahamas," he said. "There were a lot of gangs and violence. You just had to stay out of their way and go ahead with your own life."
That's exactly what he did, and it brought him to Arizona State to play basketball.
Now that he is at ASU, he just wants to concentrate on school and basketball.
"School is very important to me," he said. "Back in high school, I never used to do my work. I graduated with a low grade point average, and I had to go to junior college. Now, I am making a 3.0 and above. That is a big accomplishment for me. I now realize how important it is to focus on my education."
Kelly is majoring in social work, and would like to work with kids if he doesn't play basketball.
"I would love to counsel kids," he said. "But, I want to play basketball overseas or somewhere after college. I definitely want to play basketball. This year, though, I just want to make it to the NCAA Tournament. If we do that, I will be just fine."
Kelly hopes to make his final season at ASU a memorable one, and making it to the NCAA Tournament would definitely make 1997-98 a season to remember. Beyond that, though, Kelly just wants to continue playing well and help his team both offensively and defensively.