The last time we featured a story about Pinnacle High School's rising young talent, 6-foot-7 sophomore forward prospect Patrick Kelly, this young man looked much different. Now a year and a half later and Kelly looks to have developed nicely into a serious college prospect. In our recent Arizona Preps Fall Showcase event, Kelly emerged as one of the top young prospects in the event.
Kelly has grown a great deal since we last saw him, as he now possesses a much stronger physical frame with broad shoulders, excellent length and superb athleticism for his age. While he should only continue to develop much more over the next two years of high school, Kelly is now showing excellent promise as one of the state's top up-and-coming young prospects. Kelly is a member of the state's 2018 class, and has matured into one prospect to watch for the future.
This off-season, Kelly had been courted by numerous high school and prep programs outside of the state, but he has decided to stay in Arizona where he will now look to become one of the better budding young talents in Arizona.
Kelly comes from a totally different brand of basketball - moving from the state of North Carolina almost three years ago. As a result, Kelly brought with him to the state of Arizona a developed understanding of the importance of the game of basketball.
After suffering an injury as a freshman, Kelly spent almost a year working hard in daily workouts to rebuild his body - a practice that has benefited him nicely in his development.
After moving to Arizona, Kelly would suffer a broken bone in his foot, causing him to rehab the injury. Kelly worked very hard while working with a personal trainer at Scottsdale's AMP Sports Performance. Kelly worked daily on his lateral quickness and overall speed and agility during workouts daily at the facility.
Kelly has now grown physically and should eventually grow to atleast 6-foot-9 in heigth - making him a versatile stretch four-man over time. As he continues to mature physically, he will only become much stronger, quicker and more athletic. His best best attribute right now is his tremendous work ethic and love and passion for the game of basketball. Kelly's desire to be a player is tremendous and will carry him to becoming a nice prospect in the future, especially since he is nowhere near what he will become over time.
Kelly is the son of former NFL player Pat Kelly, who was a 6-foot-8 tight end for the Denver Broncos (NFL). His father passed away when Kelly was young.
This young Kelly is quickly making a name for himself, and his performance in this year's Fall Showcase proved that he is definitely one prospect I will be keeping a close eye on for the future.
