Switching Fields, Virginia's M. Kelly Still Stands Out
Star Running Back In High School Had Considered Football in Big Ten

By Christian Swezey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 17, 2008

When Virginia defenseman Matt Kelly was in high school, he figured he had as good a chance to play Big Ten football as ACC lacrosse, and when he first took to a lacrosse field, he was wearing an outdated panel helmet.

"It was my older brother's equipment from eight years earlier," Kelly said. "Only one other guy on the team was wearing one."

But a strong showing at a summer lacrosse camp before his junior year of high school changed Kelly's athletic prospects, and since his modest entry into the game, he has ascended to a starting role on defense for the second-seeded Cavaliers (13-3), who face No. 7 Maryland (10-5) in an NCAA quarterfinal at noon today at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

The Maryland-Virginia game is part of a doubleheader. In the second game, unseeded Navy will face No. 5 Johns Hopkins. The games are expected to draw a record crowd of 20,000.

Kelly's road to the game began at the Top 205 camp in Baltimore in late June 2004, thanks to his father's insistence.

"I kept telling him I wasn't going to know anyone, and I didn't want to go," Kelly said. "I thought it was a waste of time, but my dad wanted me to try it."

And Peter Kelly had to wonder in the hours after his son returned exactly what had happened at the camp.

The camp ended June 30. The next day was the first that NCAA rules allowed coaches to contact high school juniors.

By the time Matt Kelly got back to the family's home outside Chicago, coaches from two top college programs had left him voicemail messages. Another had sent a handwritten note to the house via overnight mail.

The initial phone conversation between Virginia Coach Dom Starsia and Kelly left an impression on both. At that point, Kelly was a standout running back at New Trier (Ill.) High.

Kelly had heard of Virginia's program from one of his older brothers who attended Duke.

Meantime, Starsia had seen Kelly in the camp's all-star game and was impressed. Starsia recalled that one statement Kelly made stood out in particular.

"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."