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Switching Fields, Virginia's M. Kelly Still Stands Out
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"I asked what his plans were for college and he said, 'I'm either going to play lacrosse for Virginia or Big Ten football,' " Starsia said. "And I said to myself, 'All right, let's go with that. I don't hear that too often.' "
Starsia's next call, to New Trier football coach Dan Mortier, also proved fruitful. Mortier said the most outstanding thing about Kelly as an athlete was his lateral quickness.
"That's not a bad thing for a defenseman," Starsia said. "We got him to visit and to commit in what felt like 10 days."
Kelly hadn't been joking about his prospects in the Big Ten. At New Trier, he was a three-year starting running back and was named his conference's player of the year over Rashard Mendenhall, who played at Illinois and was drafted in the first round by the Pittsburgh Steelers last month.
Kelly finished with more than 4,000 rushing yards and 47 touchdowns in his career.
He had a chance to walk-on most of the Big Ten teams, including Illinois.
"If he hadn't committed to Virginia, he would have gotten [football] scholarship offers, no question," Mortier said. "But they knew he was going to play lacrosse."
Kelly, who is 6 feet, 203 pounds, likely is to be matched against Maryland freshman Grant Catalino today. Catalino enters as the leading scorer for the Terrapins with 27 goals and 13 assists.
In the teams' first meeting, Kelly defended freshman Ryan Young. Maryland won, 13-7, and Young finished with one goal and one assist.
Virginia won the rematch, 11-8, in an ACC tournament semifinal.
"I'm not saying that's the way the matchups will go this time, but if I'm on Catalino, I'd probably prefer it," Kelly said. "They're both so different. [Young] is fast; Catalino is big and strong.
"Obviously the first time we got ripped apart, so we had to do some things the second time."
And his high school football coach said he will be watching the game on TV.
"I still have a picture of him in my office," Mortier said. "He gave some outstanding pep talks. He got all the other kids fired up. Basically, he hated to lose."
