Deja Kelly (born September 8, 2001) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

player for the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC). She is a three-time first-team All-ACC selection. Kelly graduated from

Duncanville High School Duncanville High School is a secondary school located in Duncanville, Texas, United States, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The school is a part of Duncanville Independent School District. The school includes grades 9 through 12. The high school ...

Duncanville, Texas Duncanville is a city in southwest Dallas County, Texas, in the United States. Duncanville's population was 40,706 at the 2020 census. The city is part of the Best Southwest area, which includes Duncanville, Cedar Hill, DeSoto, and Lancaster ...

, where she was named a

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger ...

Early life and high school career

Kelly developed an interest in basketball at age five, playing on courts in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. She trained under the guidance of her mother, Theresa Nunn, who also coached her on the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

circuit. Kelly drew inspiration from

Skylar Diggins-Smith Skylar Kierra Diggins-Smith (born August 2, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Diggins was drafted third overall by the Tulsa Shock in the 2013 WNBA ...

. She began playing varsity basketball as a freshman at

Lady Bird Johnson High School Claudia Taylor "Lady Bird" Johnson High School is a high school in the North East Independent School District in the U.S. state of Texas. It is named after U.S. First Lady Lady Bird Johnson. The school is located in on Bulverde road and TPC Parkw ...

in San Antonio. In her first year with the team, Kelly averaged 19.2 points, 3.4 steals and 3.1 assists per game and was named ''

San Antonio Express-News The ''San Antonio Express-News'' is a daily newspaper in San Antonio, Texas. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation and has offices in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. The ''Express-News'' is the third largest newspaper in the state of Texas, with ...

'' Newcomer of the Year. As a sophomore, she averaged 27.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, making the ''San Antonio Express-News'' Super Team. Kelly transferred to

for her junior season. She hoped to gain more national attention by playing at a larger school. Kelly averaged 16 points per game as a junior. She was named District 8-6A Offensive MVP and received SportsDayHS All-Area third team honors from ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

''. In her senior season, Kelly averaged 23.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 3.7 steals per game, leading Duncanville to the Class 6A state championship. She earned SportsDayHS Player of the Year and Texas

Gatorade Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine playe ...

recognition. Kelly was selected to play in the

McDonald's All-American Game The McDonald's All-American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the concl ...

and

Jordan Brand Classic The Jordan Brand Classic is a high school All-Star basketball game played annually in April. The game's rosters feature the best and most highly recruited high school boys in the senior class including alumns like Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Bl ...

, which were canceled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Recruiting

Kelly was considered a five-star

recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * '' Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (E ...

and the number 10 player in the 2020 class by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. In seventh grade, she committed to play college basketball for

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, her father's alma mater, before reopening her recruitment four years later. On November 18, 2019, Kelly committed to

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

over offers from

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

and

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

College career

On November 25, 2020, Kelly made her debut for North Carolina, recording 19 points, four rebounds and three assists in a 90–61 win over Radford. On December 17, she posted a season-high 22 points, eight assists and five rebounds in a 92–68 victory against AP No. 18

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

. She matched her season-high in points twice in consecutive wins over

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

and

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

in February 2021. As a freshman, Kelly averaged 11 points, 2.9 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game, shooting 32.9 percent from the field. She was a two-time

(ACC) Freshman of the Week selection and made the ACC All-Freshman Team. As a sophomore, Kelly had a career-high 31 points along with four rebounds and four assists in a 81–62 win against Clemson on January 2, 2022. One week later, she recorded her first

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

with 15 points and 10 rebounds in a 71–46 win over Virginia Tech. At the 2022 NCAA tournament, Kelly helped North Carolina make its first Sweet 16 appearance in seven years. She averaged 16.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game and shot 85.8 percent from the free throw line, which led the ACC. Kelly earned first-team All-ACC accolades and received

Women's Basketball Coaches Association The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is an association of coaches of women's basketball teams at all levels. The organization was formed in 1981, with the goal of addressing the needs of women's basketball coaches. The mission of the WBCA ...

(WBCA) All-American honorable mention. In her junior season, Kelly cemented herself as one of the top women's basketball players in the ACC. Once again earning first-team all-ACC honors, Kelly started every game in which she played, despite missing one contest due to injury. She set a new career high with 32 points in a 75–67 loss against

, and on the season led the team in points and assists, averaging 16.3 points and 3.2 assists per game.

National team career

Kelly represented the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

at the

2023 FIBA Women's AmeriCup The 2023 FIBA Women's AmeriCup was the 17th edition of the FIBA Women's AmeriCup, which is the main tournament for senior women's basketball national teams of the FIBA Americas. It was held from 1 to 9 July 2023 in León, Mexico. Brazil won thei ...

in Mexico. She averaged 5.9 points, 2.9 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game, helping her team win the silver medal.

Career statistics

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 24 , , 22 , , 28.8 , , .329 , , .307 , , .810 , , 2.3 , , 2.9 , , .8 , , 0 , , 1.9, , 11.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 32 , , 30.7 , , .366 , , .361 , , .858 , , 3.6 , , 2.6 , , 1.4 , , .2 , , 2.2, , 16.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 32 , , 35.4 , , .373 , , .281 , , .721 , , 3.9 , , 3.2 , , 1.3 , , .2 , , 2.4, , 16.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 33 , , 36.1 , , .346 , , .286 , , .694 , , 3.9 , , 3.2 , , 1.4 , , .3 , , 2.7, , 16.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , , 121 , , 119 , , 33.0 , , .357 , , .312 , , .755 , , 3.9 , , 3.2 , , 1.4 , , .3 , , 2.3, , 14.9

Personal life

Kelly's mother, Theresa Nunn, played basketball at

Valley City State University Valley City State University (VCSU) is a public university in Valley City, North Dakota. It is part of the North Dakota University System. Founded in 1890 as Valley City State Normal School, a two-year teachers' college, it was authorized to confe ...

and raised her as a

single parent A single parent is a person who has a child or children but does not have a spouse or live-in partner to assist in the upbringing or support of the child. Reasons for becoming a single parent include divorce, break-up, abandonment, becoming wid ...

. Her father, Darren Kelly, played college basketball for

from 1999 to 2001 and was an All-

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...

selection. Kelly has signed

name, image and likeness In college athletics in the United States, the National Collegiate Athletic Association ("NCAA") has historically resisted efforts to compensate college athletes. However, after years of effort by those in favor of student athlete compensation, c ...

(NIL) deals with

Beats Electronics Beats Electronics LLC (also known as Beats by Dr. Dre, or simply Beats by Dre) is an American consumer audio products manufacturer headquartered in Culver City, California. The company was founded by music producer Dr. Dre and record company exe ...

Dunkin' Donuts Dunkin' Donuts LLC, also known as Dunkin' and by the initials DD, is an American multinational coffee and doughnut company, as well as a quick service restaurant. It was founded by Bill Rosenberg (1916–2002) in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 195 ...

Forever 21 Forever 21 is a multinational fast fashion retailer headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. Originally founded as the store Fashion 21 in Highland Park, Los Angeles in 1984,Forever 21History & Facts, n.d. Retrieved 27 April 2014 ...

and

Outback Steakhouse Outback Steakhouse is an American chain of Australian-themed casual dining restaurants, serving American cuisine, based in Tampa, Florida. The chain has over 1,000 locations in 23 countries throughout North and South America, Asia, and Australia ...

, among other companies. She has equity in the hydration company Drink Barcode as part of an NIL deal. At the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

, Kelly

majors Jonathan Michael Majors (born September 7, 1989)Majors in is an American actor. He rose to prominence after starring in the independent feature film ''The Last Black Man in San Francisco'' (2019). In 2020, he garnered wider notice for portraying ...

broadcast journalism Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...

and aspires to become a

sports broadcaster In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

after her playing career. She has served as an anchor for Sports Xtra, a student-run show at the

UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media The UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media (locally regarded as "the J school") is a nationally accredited professional undergraduate and graduate level journalism school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The school, founde ...

References

External links

North Carolina Tar Heels bio

USA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Deja 2001 births Living people American women's basketball players Basketball players from San Antonio Sportspeople from Duncanville, Texas Point guards North Carolina Tar Heels women's basketball players Duncanville High School alumni McDonald's High School All-Americans