Harry "Machine Gun" Kelly (born 1961) is an American former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. He played

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 ...

for the

Texas Southern Tigers The Texas Southern Tigers represent Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas, in intercollegiate athletics. They field sixteen teams including men and women's basketball, cross country, golf, and track and field; women's-only bowling, soccer ...

from 1979–1983.

College career

Kelly was born in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond. The city had a population of 153,701 at t ...

. He enrolled at

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a public historically black university in Houston, Texas. The university is one of the largest and most comprehensive historically black college or universities in the USA with nearly 10,00 ...

in 1979, and played basketball for the team for four seasons. A counselor gave him his nickname "Machine Gun Kelly" in his freshman year due to his prolific scoring; in his college career he scored 3,066 points — the sixth most in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

history — and averaged 27.9 points per game. In addition, he achieved a career total of 1,085 rebounds, averaging 9.9 per game, making him the first player to score over 3,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds in NCAA history. He was named Southwestern Athletic Conference Player of the Year three times and received the

John McLendon John B. McLendon Jr. (April 5, 1915 – October 8, 1999) was an American basketball coach who is recognized as the first African American basketball coach at a predominantly white university and the first African American head coach in any professi ...

Award, which honors the best player at a

historically black college Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. M ...

, in 1982 and 1983.Nance, Roscoe (31 March 2010)
"Harry "Machine Gun" Kelly"
SWAC Men's Basketball Profiles. Southwestern Athletic Conference. Retrieved March 11, 2014.

Professional career

Kelly was selected in the fourth round of the 1983 NBA draft by the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

. He was cut from the team before the season in favor of

Doc Rivers Glenn Anton "Doc" Rivers (born October 13, 1961) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After playing for Marquette Universit ...

Randy Wittman Randy Scott Wittman (born October 28, 1959) is an American former basketball player at the guard position and former coach of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Washington Wizards. Playing career High school Wittman starr ...

and center

John Pinone John Gabriel Pinone Jr. (born February 19, 1961) is a retired American professional basketball player. High school Pinone played competitively at South Catholic High School in Hartford, leading the team to the Class L state championship in 1977 ...

, who were all selected before him. He subsequently played briefly in California's Summer Pro League and Italy's

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier ...

. In 1984 he started a career in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

's Department of Public Works and Engineering.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Harry 1961 births Living people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks draft picks Basketball players from Jackson, Mississippi Small forwards Texas Southern Tigers men's basketball players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople

College career

Professional career

See also

References