Richard Ryland Kelley (born March 23, 1953) is an American retired

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. Kelley 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 ...

at Stanford University and was the first round pick (7th pick overall) of the New Orleans Jazz in the

1975 NBA draft The 1975 NBA draft was the 29th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 29, 1975, before the 1975–76 season. In this draft, 18 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players a ...

. Kelley played eleven NBA seasons.

College career

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

, a graduate of Woodside High School, Kelley played

for Stanford. The 7-foot, 235-pound Kelley was drafted as an underclassman in the second round of the 1974 American Basketball Association ABA draft by the

New York Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, but he opted to stay in college for another year. While in college, Kelley played for the

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

in the

1974 FIBA World Championship The 1974 FIBA World Championship was the 7th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Puerto Rico from July 3 to 14, 1974. The tournament was won by the Soviet Union. Venues Comp ...

, winning the bronze medal. In 76 career games at Stanford, under Coach Howard Dallmar, Kelley averaged a

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 ...

of 18.6 points and 12.4 rebounds, shooting 49% from the floor and 78% from the line. He scored 1412 total points, with 944 total rebounds in his three varsity seasons.

NBA career

In 1975, Kelley was drafted by the New Orleans Jazz in the first round of the

and by the

Memphis Sounds The Memphis Sounds were an American professional sports franchise that played in Memphis, Tennessee from 1970 until 1975 as a member of the American Basketball Association. The team was founded as the New Orleans Buccaneers in 1967. Known durin ...

in the second round of the 1975 ABA Draft. In the NBA Kelley played for the New Orleans/Utah Jazz (1975–79, 1983–85),

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

(1979–80), Phoenix Suns (1980–82), Denver Nuggets (1982–83) and

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

(1985–86). His best individual season was with the Jazz in 1978-79, in which he averaged 15.7 points and 12.8 rebounds per game (good for second in the league in rebounding that year), and also established a franchise record with 166 blocked shots. He helped the Suns win the 1980–81 NBA Pacific Division and the Jazz win the 1983–84 NBA Midwest Division. He currently ranks 94th on the NBA's career offensive rebounds list (1,872). In 11 seasons, he played in 814 games and played 17,711 minutes, a 48.8 field goal percentage (2,166 for 4,435), 78.3 free throw percentage (1,867 for 2,384), 5,678 total rebounds (1,872 offensive, 3,806 defensive), 2,092 assists, 694 steals, 749 blocked shots, 2,613 personal fouls and 6,199 points. He averaged 7.6 points and 7.0 rebounds in his 814 career games.

Personal

After retirement, Kelley earned an MBA at Stanford. He is a co-founder of Search Fund Partners, having started the firm in 2004. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of San Francisco Legal, Avadyne Health, HemaSource, Verengo, H&R Accounts, Asset Recovery Corporation and Medical Positioning, Inc. Kelley has been involved in numerous small businesses and start-up companies as an operator, owner, and investor. His varied experience includes: CFO of

SCORE! Educational Centers SCORE! Educational Centers (commonly SCORE!), was owned by Kaplan, Inc., which is a subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company, and was a United States provider of customized supplementary education and one-on-three tutoring services for children in ...

, CEO of San Jose Giants, General Partner of the Stanford Terrace Inn, developer of houses and subdivisions, owner of office buildings, investor in successful tech start-ups (Coinstar, PLX Technology, Corcept Therapeutics). He has also invested in many limited partnerships, including venture funds, and has been involved as a search fund investor since 1994.

Honors

* Kelley was inducted into the Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame in 1985. * In 2009, Kelley was inducted into the Woodside High School Community Hall of Fame.

References

External links

Career statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelley, Rich 1953 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from California Centers (basketball) Denver Nuggets players Memphis Sounds draft picks New Jersey Nets players New Orleans Jazz draft picks New Orleans Jazz players People from San Mateo, California Phoenix Suns players Power forwards (basketball) Sacramento Kings players Stanford Cardinal men's basketball players United States men's national basketball team players Utah Jazz players 1974 FIBA World Championship players