By: Dylan Fearon
Rich Kelly is one of calmest people you’ll meet. So calm, in fact, that he listens to Elton John before games.
Yeah, that’s right. Not Drake. Not Kanye. Not 21 Savage.
Elton John.
“It calms me down,” Kelly said. “I don’t like the hard-core, up-beat music. It gets me too anxious. I like the smooth music. The song ‘Levon’ is a big one for me, probably my favorite.”
That calmness translates to the court. Expected to be the starting point guard for the Quinnipiac men’s basketball team this season, Kelly is just a freshman, but has a big responsibility being the primary ball handler.
“He’s even-keeled and relaxed, but he still plays hard,” Quinnipiac head coach Baker Dunleavy said. “He’s engaged. He’s active. He wants to be everywhere. It’s a great combination of poise, but not laziness. Sometimes when a guy is laid back, he’s going to drift a little bit, but that’s not what he does.”
Under Dunleavy’s offense, Kelly will be the main facilitator in a three, sometimes four-guard lineup. He played in both of Quinnipiac’s scrimmages, against Delaware and Bryant, and showed he’s the real deal.
“I saw an aggressiveness, and that’s what I wanted,” Dunleavy said. “The worst thing I can do as a coach is handcuff him and make him tentative. I think we have to live with some mistakes. But they have to be mistakes from being aggressive. He shot the ball very well in the first scrimmage. Second scrimmage, he didn’t, but he still was productive. Still was able to get rebounds, be in a stance, get other guys shots, break down the defense.”
Kelly, a Connecticut native, has winning in his DNA. As a sophomore in high school, he helped Montverde Academy, a powerhouse in Florida, to an undefeated season and national championship. Kelly then came back to Connecticut to play with Fairfield Prep for two years, before enrolling in Cheshire Academy for a prep year.
Wanting to be close to home, Kelly is now at Quinnipiac, and he’s already gelled with other inexperienced guards seeking an identity.
“Throughout the summer me and Cam (Young) were shooting partners,” Kelly said. “When Isaiah (Washington) committed, he texted me. They’re both older guards that are on the team that I’ve seen try to help me along as well as play with me because I’m on the court with them. Their openness early on really helped.”
There are question marks surrounding the Bobcats from all angles. They have brand-new coaching staff, and lost their best four guards and second best big man. But Kelly seems to have erased a couple of those questions as the season starts this weekend. As a six-foot-one guard, he can shoot from distance, he’s not afraid to make mistakes and he isn’t scared of the moment.
“I think Rich is a guy that is really confident in his ability,” Dunleavy said. “As a freshman, to play that position, you can’t be scared, you can’t be hesitant. He’s neither. He’s picked things up really quickly. He’s smart, has a great feel. I think he’s got a great skill set.”
Kelly will get his first minutes of Division I basketball action Saturday against Dartmouth.
Odds are Elton John songs will be blaring from his headphones.
