Newton North Big Man Makes Pick
Greg Kelley knew he wanted to go to the Ivy League and on Thursday he became the first New England product in the class of 2010 to commit to a school in the nation’s most prominent academic conference.
“I spoke with Coach James Jones from Yale today and made a verbal commitment,” Kelley told the New England Recruiting Report. “It couldn’t be a better fit for me and my family.”
Kelley is a 6’8” big man who has starred both on the court and in the classroom at Newton North High School in Massachusetts. He is an exceptionally skilled big man who is and inside-out threat. He has soft hands and terrific footwork on the interior, but can also stretch defenses with the three-point range on his jumper.
Kelley was receiving heavy interest from a variety of top academic division I programs including Harvard, Holy Cross, Richmond, Cornell, and others, but ultimately he decided the opportunity to go to Yale was too much to pass up on.
“They offered me a couple of months ago when I got my SAT scores back so I’ve had it on the table for a little while,” he said. “I’ve been on the campus two times since. I really like Coach Jones and the guys on the team seem like guys I can fit in with.”
Kelley’s most recent trip to the New Haven campus came a couple of weeks ago when he shined at the Bulldog Elite Camp, clearly establishing himself as one of, if not the, premier big man at the camp.
“I feel like I’ll have an opportunity to play right off the bat as a freshman,” he said. “They didn’t have too many big men come in last year and I’m the first player to commit for 2010.”
Ultimately, this is a win-win for both Kelley and Yale. Kelley gets the world class education he was looking for in addition to the opportunity to make a big contribution on the hardwood. Meanwhile Yale lands an early score in the recruiting period by adding a player who has the tools to eventually become an impact player in the Ivy League.
Greg Kelley