Earl Kelley

[mauconnfan]

Myself and another buddy brought our good friend to the game yesterday and sat in the handicap section (114 in the first half, 112 were our seats - my buddy is a HUGE Husky fan but suffered a stroke a few years back and this was his first game in over 3 1/2 years, we had a blast - some of you met him years ago at Rookies when we had our get together there as "JD")

Anyway, Earl Kelley specifically came by to say hello to "JD" which was a nice gesture and he sat and talked for quite a while about his days and these latest teams as well. I had a conversation with him about how he was unfortunate that he was right in between years he could have made even larger impact as besides Tim Coles and a couple of decent players (Cliffy was a frosh I believe?) he never played with a big front line to support him. I mentioned we've always had the discussion about how we wish he was a couple years earlier so he could have played with Corny, Mike M and Chuck because he was the missing piece. He was a lot of fun, talked about the other Ct guys like Murphy, Garris and such whom he wished stayed home. He's really a good guy and looks like he could still play. He was sitting down behind the UC bench with Stormin'Norman Bailey. The crazy thing is my buddy Tom and him knew each other form living near each other while on campus (Ellsworth? sound right) back in the day and partying a little (ok a lot) together.

One of my favorites to watch play of all time and it was fun to reminisce with the dude. I know he had his troubles but he seems to be in a real good place! Nice guy

 

[uchusky32]

Earl was a nice guy. Used to take him home. Pm me Mau. Some real good stories.

 

[Danzz]

Myself and another buddy brought our good friend to the game yesterday and sat in the handicap section (114 in the first half, 112 were our seats - my buddy is a HUGE Husky fan but suffered a stroke a few years back and this was his first game in over 3 1/2 years, we had a blast - some of you met him years ago at Rookies when we had our get together there as "JD")

Anyway, Earl Kelley specifically came by to say hello to "JD" which was a nice gesture and he sat and talked for quite a while about his days and these latest teams as well. I had a conversation with him about how he was unfortunate that he was right in between years he could have made even larger impact as besides Tim Coles and a couple of decent players (Cliffy was a frosh I believe?) he never played with a big front line to support him. I mentioned we've always had the discussion about how we wish he was a couple years earlier so he could have played with Corny, Mike M and Chuck because he was the missing piece. He was a lot of fun, talked about the other Ct guys like Murphy, Garris and such whom he wished stayed home. He's really a good guy and looks like he could still play. He was sitting down behind the UC bench with Stormin'Norman Bailey. The crazy thing is my buddy Tom and him knew each other form living near each other while on campus (Ellsworth? sound right) back in the day and partying a little (ok a lot) together.

One of my favorites to watch play of all time and it was fun to reminisce with the dude. I know he had his troubles but he seems to be in a real good place! Nice guy

Sounds like things are going well for him and it is always nice to hear good news.

 

[Northbound]

He's is in my top three favorites.

 

[Horatio]

I remember watching him as a kid. His range was ridiculous even on the double rims at Golfe street park, NewHaven. It's good to hear about him.

 

[Calhoun's Court]

Right there with you Mau.
Loved watching "The Earl of Storrs".
Would have loved to see him play with Corny and Mike.
With Earl on that team we would have beat the Louie and Bouie Show at Manley in the Spring of '79.

Just thinking back (off the top of my head) Earl's teammates would have been Terry Coffey, Terrance Warren, Sgt, Eddie Williams, Skinner Fredricks and Ray Broxton among others.

The only big I ever remember with Earl would have been Bruce Kuczenski maybe his first couple years.

 

[mauconnfan]

Right there with you Mau.
Loved watching "The Earl of Storrs".
Would have loved to see him play with Corny and Mike.
With Earl on that team we would have beat the Louie and Bouie Show at Manley in the Spring of '79.

Were you in New Haven when we did beat them? That place was rocking that night - I was with my brother, John Nessing and Stoney Sternberg (who you knew as a Katz Sport Shop pitcher) on the top row and it was hot in there and loud. Went to Richters after to celebrate with a few "yards" LOL

 

[willie99]

I remember him sticking free throws down the stretch and we beat Cuse at Cuse

we did win that game, right?

I also think that was one of his last games, I did like him a lot

 

[gtcam]

I was/am a huge fan of Earl Kelley. My father's good friend was a manager of a team of high school stars in the Hartford area in the early - mid 70's (pre AAU stuff). We used to go around CT, NY, MA and RI. Saw a lot of great players.
When we went to New Haven to play a team made up of virtually all Bob Saulisbury's kids - including Larry Kelley (Earls older who went to Syracuse), Earl used to come out during pregame warmups, time outs and half times to shoot and dribble around. He was probably no older than 8-10 but he had as much skills as some of the older guys!

 

[uconngb]

I've always felt that Earl was the most talented player to ever lace them up at UConn, all the way through to today. He averaged something like 47 points his senior year in high school. A shame that he didn't have a better surrounding cast (both on AND off the court). I remember I let him and Cliff borrow my car one time in college and I was dead certain I was never going to see it again! If he played under Calhoun I think he would have been a lock for the NBA and would probably have had a long career.

 

[Huskybass]

Terrance Warren was AWFUL. He would get schooled by regular students in pickup games. Earl was fun to play against though. Loads of talent, and a decent guy in person.

 

[Vancat]

I, too, loved Earl!

 

[mauconnfan]

Terrance Warren was AWFUL. He would get schooled by regular students in pickup games. Earl was fun to play against though. Loads of talent, and a decent guy in person.

Terrence Warren - wow! I remember him, was Terry Coffey a teammate then too?

 

[Willy Gee]

Earl was my favorite player to watch. He borrowed my roommates notes from a sociology class, however, and never returned them. My roomy took it well, and we still joke about it.

 

[formerlurker]

My brother was at UConn 4-5 years before me and lived in the same dorm as Earl. Said he was a great guy and always talked to my parents when they came to visit. My brother has some great stories about him but none I think need to be shared here

 

[Penfield]

Sounds like everyone is hanging out with former players except me.

 

[Steve85]

Terrence Warren - wow! I remember him, was Terry Coffey a teammate then too?

yes, Mau and who can ever forget the very forgetful Brian Buckelew (sp?), a 2G who transferred out of Storrs!

Earl was THE Man my years in Storrs!

 

[cohenzone]

Earl is way after my time, but I did get to meet him once and several other ex-Huskies on several occasions. We've had so many good players it's easy to forget just how good Earl was.My brother-in-law used to stage an annual benefit game at a beach club in CT where a lot of ex-Huskies played. Lots of fun. The regulars were Chris Smith, John Gwynn, Lyman DePriest, Dan Cyrulik, Murray Williams and others I can't recall. Earl played once and was very friendly. Sly Williams played once and was very nice. There were a bunch of PC guys, too, whose names I've forgotten, big dudes, dunking during the games constantly, all friendly guys. All pretty out of shape, too.

I got to assistant coach at a different venue and had Lyman on my team as well as Rebecca Lobo's 7' tall brother who played at Dartmouth. Great guy and good shooter. Lyman is really a good guy. He was shooting great from the corners. I asked him why he hardly ever shot from outside when he played for JC. He said it wasn't his role and when he tried to hoist them up in practice, he'd hear someone with a strong Boston accent yell "You, off the court." All I know is that he was deadly. I'm clearly a much better coach than JC

 

[AZHuskiePop]

I've always felt that Earl was the most talented player to ever lace them up at UConn, all the way through to today. He averaged something like 47 points his senior year in high school. A shame that he didn't have a better surrounding cast (both on AND off the court). I remember I let him and Cliff borrow my car one time in college and I was dead certain I was never going to see it again! If he played under Calhoun I think he would have been a lock for the NBA and would probably have had a long career.

All I could think of when I read your post was that great line from Animal
House and Earl telling you up you trusted us.

 

[Husky1]

I always thought that Earl was a fabulous player while at UCONN but he did have his issues, in fact he was not the greatest of kids (attitude) while there. I remember playing pickup games at the field house and he was always sort of a nasty kid on the court. Cliff and Phil were great kids, but Earl just always seemed to have a chip on his shoulder. That being said, I've noticed him at the last few games and he seems to have straightened out his life. As you recall there were issues with him and a gun and other things which got him kicked off the team. During his time, the other contemperary of his that he played against was Mark Jackson. I always felt that MJ could not carry Earl's shoes on the court, which shows you how important the off-the-court stuff is. Earl could dribble, shoot, defend and was fearless in the paint. Don't think we had a 3 point line then but he had tremendous range as well. Classic story of a guy that had all the talent in the world who messed up off the court and it cost him big-time.

 

[Stainmaster]

I watched the Sacred Heart-Rutgers game earlier this year, and I caught a glimpse of Kelley behind the SHU bench (his son is a senior G on the team). He looked to be in good shape and good spirits.

An aside, my mother lived next door to him while she was in grad school...she was not impressed with all of the crazy shenanigans that went down at his place.

 

[Dogdeacon]

When I saw the headline of this thread I half-expected to read something bad had happened to Earl Kelley, probably because almost all of the stories about him since that Syracuse game 30+ years ago have been bad.

Earl Kelley absolutely cemented my love of basketball. Dude was the only BE caliber talent on his UConn teams (Tim Coles was his one big guy, at best 6'6" defending Patrick Ewing) and Earl kept UConn somewhat competitive when the talent wasn't there. He also took control from the coach which arguably led to a rudderless program. I remember watching him show up for practice 15 minutes late smoking a cigarette or teasing James Spradling (that he was a bad-ass dunker) in the old gym, it was both funny and nasty. As a player Earl was phenomenally good and entertaining to watch shoot or drive to the hole. He would put the ball in the hoop from impossible angles via backspin, topspin, side-spin whatever it took. Despite all his failings at UConn I still expected him to make it in the NBA when he got drafted in the 6th round or whatever it was.

Very happy to hear he is on his feet and doing well.

 

[Calhoun's Court]

Were you in New Haven when we did beat them? That place was rocking that night - I was with my brother, John Nessing and Stoney Sternberg (who you knew as a Katz Sport Shop pitcher) on the top row and it was hot in there and loud. Went to Richters after to celebrate with a few "yards" LOL

No, wasn't there for that one.

But did make it up to the Providence CC(with cousin Pete) to see us beat URI(with Sly Williams) to win the ECAC in the Spring of 1979.

 

[Waquoit]

Terrence Warren - wow! I remember him, was Terry Coffey a teammate then too?

Exactly. That was when Perno's philosophy was to recruit the best available Terrence.

 

[CTPride]

Sounds like everyone is hanging out with former players except me.

Just hung out with Drummond, got a couple stories Ill share in 20 mins