Photograph taken by Under Armour.
Like many others in the class of 2013, small forward Rashard Kelly is dealing with the difficult question of where he’ll play college basketball, but first, he has to decide whether he’s going to transition to the next level this year or the next.
“I’m in my senior class but if I don’t find the right scholarship offer this year, I can come back for a prep year next year at Massanutten,” Kelly told NRS. ”Right now, it’s 50-50. I don’t have a lot of high-major offers but I feel if I did take that post-grad year I could get a lot of high-major offers.”
The Massanutten Military Academy (VA) senior currently has offers from Boston College, Delaware, Old Dominion, Western Kentucky, Illinois State, George Washington and Robert Morris, among others. He has also drawn interest from George Mason, Providence, Georgia and DePaul.
Among the schools currently recruiting him, Kelly does have some schools that are sticking out to him.
“I do have a top five, but it’s not in a specific order,” he said. “It’s Boston College, Seton Hall, Delaware, George Mason and George Washington. Boston College, if I go there, it’s playing against good competition and it’s a good school academically; Seton Hall, it’s the same situation where it’s good competition and then Delaware, George Mason and George Washington are close to home. Location isn’t a big factor but it’s something to think about.”
Kelly was set to take an unofficial visit to Old Dominion Saturday but it has now been rescheduled and a future date hasn’t been identified. He’s also planning on officially visiting Boston College and has recently taken unofficials to Delaware and George Mason.
When going on these visits, Kelly knows what he’s looking for in a school. “I want to go somewhere you can get the best of both worlds,” he added. “I want to go in and play but get a good education at the same time.”
Among the schools recruiting him, Boston College and Old Dominion are coming after him the hardest. He has also built the best relationship with the coaching staff at Delaware.
“I’ve probably developed the best relationship with Delaware out of my top five because coach [Chris] Cheeks, the assistant at Delaware, coached my [DC Assault] AAU team this summer so I know him more personally,” Kelly said.
In addition to coaches like Cheeks, the 6’7, 220-pound Virginia native also has one of his friends and teammates recruiting him. “[Class of 2013 small forward] Garland [Owens] is telling me Boston College is a perfect fit for me; he’s one of my closest friends at Massanutten,” Kelly added. “He tells me every day how I need to come to Boston College. He’s persuading me quite a bit.”
Kelly plans on deciding whether he’ll commit and go to college next year or reclassify and take a post-grad year in the spring. Although there are no schools in particular he hopes gets involved with him, he would like more ACC and Big East programs to recruit him.
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