There’s been a significant shift over the past several years and elite freshmen are immediately ready to succeed in high school basketball. They skip right past the sophomore team, right past bench minutes and are often immediately the best player on the varsity team.
Neuqua Valley freshman Cole Kelly is the star name in the state’s 2028 class and he lived up to the billing in his highly anticipated debut on Monday in Oswego.
“Nerves were a factor,” Kelly said. “But once you get out there on the court and hit your first shot you settle down and it is all good from there.”
Kelly made his first shot, a three-pointer. Then he slammed home a dunk on the next possession. The 6-6 guard’s initial two minutes in high school basketball made everything look easy.
“After that, I thought it was going to be a good game,” Kelly said. “But Travis Brown [and West Aurora] can hoop. I had to stay calm, cool and collected.”
Kelly finished with 21 points, seven rebounds, three blocks, three steals and several assists in the Wildcats’ 47-45 win against West Aurora.
Sophomore Mason Minor made the game-winning three-pointer with five seconds left.
“The play wasn’t even for me, I just found an open look and knocked it down,” Minor said. “First game, it was super scrappy. You just have to have confidence and knock it down.”
Neuqua Valley coach Todd Sutton said Kelly, who has scholarship offers from Illinois and DePaul, has been attending basketball camps at the school for years.
“[The upperclassmen] have known him forever,” Sutton said. “There are no secrets. They’ve known he was the best player. Everyone was aware.
“He’s a legit 6-6 with long arms. He’s the best passer I’ve ever seen. He’s Magic Johnson. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
He’s only played one game, but Kelly is already the biggest basketball star in school history and could become the best player out of Naperville. That means something to him.
“I never thought about leaving and going to a prep school or something,” Kelly said. “Staying home and doing something for the people in my city, my hometown felt right.”
The game was tied at 24 at halftime and West Aurora led by five points early in the fourth quarter. Neuqua Valley retook the lead on a steal and dunk by Kelly with 3:12 to play.
“I knew I had to get us going,” Kelly said. “A layup wasn’t going to get us going but I knew a dunk was going to get some momentum going.”
Brown, a sophomore, made a similarly significant impact for West Aurora. He played some varsity minutes last season, but this was his first start. The point guard had 18 points.
“He has a good lineage,” Blackhawks coach Mike Fowler said. “His father played at East Aurora. He still has a little growing to do but I’m comfortable with him with the ball in his hands and making plays. He’ll learn and he’ll be great for us this season and the next two after that.”
West Aurora played without star senior Terrence Smith, who was on crutches. Smith, an Iowa recruit in football, is one of the state’s most athletic players. He said he’s hoping to be back before the Pontiac Holiday Tournament in late December.