Women’s basketball player Andrea Kelly brought her dreams of playing big-time basketball with her when she transferred to LSU from Okaloosa-Walton Community College in Florida last season.She also brought the memory of a special person she lost in the eighth grade — her father, Jack Kelly.Andrea Kelly was just 13 when her father died in 2002 after a sudden onset of leukemia following a family trip to South Korea. She said her father was her biggest supporter throughout her basketball career.”He died the day after my middle school championship game,” Kelly said. “That was a big blow because I was always Daddy’s girl, and he was my No. 1 fan. When I lost him, I felt like I lost basketball at the same time.”Kelly said her father made his presence known when he attended her basketball games, and his excitement meant the world to her.”He would be like, ‘No. 11! No. 11!'” Kelly said. “Whenever I would shoot free throws, he would say, ‘Icewater!’ Now I remember his voice when I shoot, and I think smooth, like icewater.”
Reginald Washington, Kelly’s godfather, said after the death of her father, Kelly became like a second daughter to him and his wife. Washington’s daughter played basketball with Kelly at Meigs Middle School in Shalimar, Fla. “She became our daughter then, and her mother was like a sister to us,” Washington said. “Andrea is the greatest daughter anyone could ever have. In middle school, she was always the person the entire team would focus on. Even though the spotlight was on her, she always had a way of letting that flow to others.”Washington spent the night of Jack Kelly’s death in the hospital with Andrea and her mother, who speaks Korean as her first language, to console and support them. Washington said Kelly took her father’s death better than anyone around her expected.”Andrea received the grace of God, and she reacted in a very mature manner,” Washington said. “As any child would, there was some pain and crying. But she never stopped doing her homework, which was an amazing thing.”Kelly maintained a 4.5 GPA even while dealing with the loss of a person so close to her. Washington said Kelly did all her homework alone and called her “a great self-starter.””She was very strong because she didn’t act like it was the end of the story for her,” Washington said. “She never stopped wanting to be what she was supposed to be.”What Kelly was supposed to be was a Lady Tiger at LSU. After two years in junior college, she wanted to play at “the next level.”Kelly led the Lady Tigers in three-point shooting in her first season, converting 40.5 percent of her attempts. Her first start came Jan. 25 against Kentucky, and she scored 15 points — all from behind the arc — including two three-pointers in the last six minutes to clinch LSU’s 59-56 win on the road.LSU coach Van Chancellor said it was an easy decision to name Kelly a co-captain of the Lady Tigers with senior guard Allison Hightower this season.”Andrea Kelly is one of the finest human beings I’ve ever coached,” Chancellor said. “She has earned the total respect of her teammates and her coaches. When you talk about the ultimate team player and a wonderful person, that’s Andrea Kelly.”LSU sophomore forward LaSondra Barrett was Kelly’s roommate last year. Barrett said even though Kelly is two years older than her, they developed a bond when they started playing for the Lady Tigers at the same time.”We were in the same boat being new coming in and getting used to the Lady Tiger way,” Barrett said. “She’s a very strong person because every day she comes in with a smile no matter what is going on in her personal life.”Kelly said the experiences she gained at junior college are some she will never forget, but she said she enjoys the differences at LSU as well.”As far as basketball, the intensity is like 10 times higher, and the [LSU] program is excellent,” Kelly said. “In junior college you have to everything yourself — treating yourself, going to class, getting your own rebounds at practice. I thank God for the opportunity to play here.”–Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]