The Beginners Guide to NAIA Basketball w/ NAIA National Championship Winning Coach - Kelly Wells
Channel: PREP Athletics
Date: 16/05/2022

Kelly Wells is the former head basketball coach of the University of Pikeville.  As a high schooler he was one of the top players in the state of Kentucky and led his team to three straight trips to the Sweet Sixteen.  After graduation he played at Tulsa before transferring to Morehead State.  He won a state title as head coach at Mason County High School where he coached Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball, eventual NCAA champion and NBA player Darius Miller.  From here he coached one year at Hawaii Pacific before taking over at the University of Pikeville.  During his time at Pikeville he won the 2011 NAIA national championship and coached 2 NAIA players of the year.  Kelly stepped down as head coach last year and is now the Athletic Director at Pikeville.  In this episode we discuss how he got to the D1 level as a player, his thought process and decision to transfer, coaching a future NCAA Champion/NBA player, recruiting transfers as a college coach, the NAIA level, what it takes for a guard to play D1 and much more.  Enjoy this episode with Coach Kelly Wells.   

What You Will Learn:
[4:36] What is NAIA basketball?
[6:33] How did NAIA college basketball programs get so good in Kentucky?
[8:21] Do NAIA schools offer full or partial scholarships?  
[10:00] Difference between NAIA Division 1 and 2.
[10:21] How many NAIA colleges offer basketball programs?
[11:12] Philosophy of how many transfers and high school seniors to take each year
[16:42] Cons of NAIA programs?
[18:23] What helped Kelly get a D1 scholarship to Tulsa?
[19:33] Who recruited Kelly in high school?
[21:09] Playing for Morehead State Coach Dick Fick – ESPN Story
[23:39] Kelly’s D1 college transfer experience
[25:01] What makes Kentucky high school basketball so special?
[ 27:10] Why does Mason County Kentucky have such good teams?
[31:54] Coaching at Hawaii Pacific
[35:33] Grit through kidney transplants
[36:51] How Kelly won the NAIA national championship title within 5 years of coaching at UPike
[38:06] Famous Alumni of the University of Pikeville
[40:09] What does a guard need to play at the D1 level?
[42:29] Biggest win of his career?
[43:05] Best player played against?
[43:49] Best player coached against?
[44:21] Favorite Movie
[45:34] Hobbies

Connect w/ Kelly:
Twitter | https://twitter.com/CoachKellyWells
Website | https://www.thehill.org/athletics/team-pages/boys/basketball
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/seilberg/
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/seth.eilberg

Connect with Cory:
Website | https://www.prepathletics.com
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/prep_athletics/
Twitter | https://twitter.com/PREP_Athletics
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/PrepAthletics
Email | coryheitz@gmail.com
Phone | 859-317-1166

Subscribe to the PREP Athletics Podcast:
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About Me
Cory Heitz is the Founder and President of PREP Athletics. He has been helping place players into the right fitting prep schools since 2008. Cory completed a post grad year himself before playing in a D1 basketball program, so he knows the pressures that players and families face when trying to get to the collegiate level. That’s why he started this podcast, which is to share his wealth of information to those looking to reach their college basketball goals.