Aaron Kelly

Kelley joins his high school basketball coach, Oxford’s Larry Davidson, and his college basketball coach Bill Jones of Jacksonville State University in the Calhoun County Sports Hall of Fame. He was marked for greatness on the basketball court early on. In the 1988-89 school year, as an eighth-grader, Kelley was the lone Oxford player named to the Class 4A-6A Calhoun County junior high school basketball tournament’s all-tournament team. The following season, as a freshman, he was again named all-tournament for the 4A-6A junior high basketball tournament.  

 A three-year starter on Oxford’s varsity basketball team, Kelley scored 1,520 points during his varsity career. He earned honorable mention recognition on the coaches’ 4A-6A all-county team in 1990-91 as a sophomore when he averaged 17.2 points and 4 rebounds while converting 48 percent of his shots overall and 38 percent of his 3-point tries.

He was second-team all-county as a junior. His scoring average increased to 18 points per game with 5 rebounds per contest on 47 percent shooting overall and 30 percent from outside the arc.

In his senior basketball season of 1992-93, Kelley averaged 26 points per game and 5 rebounds. He connected on 57 percent of his shots from the floor overall and converted 35 percent of his 3-point attempts. He was one of five members of the first-team all-county squad.

Kelley was named the outstanding offensive player in the 1993 Calhoun County basketball tournament. In No. 3 Oxford’s 69-59 semifinal game win over No. 2 Alexandria, Kelley scored 30 points. He netted 28 points in the second half as the Yellow Jackets overcame Alexandria’s 38-17 halftime lead. In the championship game the following night, Kelley totaled a team-best 27 points but No. 1 Anniston downed Oxford 83-70.       

Kelley’s stellar high school basketball career at Oxford earned him a scholarship from Jacksonville State. For the Gamecocks, he was a four-year letterman, a three-year starter and the team’s most valuable defensive player for three seasons. He was also a team captain as a junior and again as a senior. He surpassed the career milestone of 1,000 points on January 4, 1997. A knee injury late in his senior season forced him to miss two games, ending a streak of 71 consecutive games in which he started.

Over his four-year Jacksonville State career, Kelley scored 1,223 points. He averaged 5.4 points per game as a freshman. That number increased to 12.1 points as a sophomore. As a junior he averaged 15.1 points and his senior-season average was 15.0 points.