DETROIT (6/8/2020) -- Dwayne Kelley '93 knew what he wanted in a college. He knew what he wanted in an education and for athletics. He knew that he wanted to be part of a turnaround and to be prepared for life.

Kelley got all he asked for and more at the University of Detroit Mercy. 

Still ranking as one of the top men's basketball scorers in school history, sitting tied for ninth in the record book with 1,608 points and seventh when he graduated. He also ranks fifth with 224 career 3-pointers and that was first in school history when he departed. Kelley came to U-D in 1989 in a time of change. Ricky Byrdsong had just finished his first year in trying to guide the program back to greatness. The Titans also started playing their games downtown at Cobo Arena. 

"My time was a blast with the Titans," said Kelley. "I came in a time where we were trying to restore glory and excitement to the program. Coach Byrdsong had a plan. We wanted to restore the glory and people would ask me why I didn't go play someplace else being that U-D was down, and I always said, it's not where you go, its what you do when you get there and I feel like going to a great academic school, a school with a great coach and the opportunity to build something that I believe catapulted to the next era with coach (Perry) Watson coming in, was the best decision for me."

Kelley fondly remembers coach Byrdsong and the impact he made on him, not only as a player, but as a man, especially during these times with coach Byrdsong losing his life after being shot by a white supremacist while jogging in a park in Chicago when he was the head coach at Northwestern. 

"He was a great human being," said Kelley. "He had a great knack to motivate you and could relate to the players. I had an opportunity and was honored to speak at his funeral. He was a real genuine person, him and his entire staff, but coach Byrdsong holds a special place in my heart. He gave me an opportunity and I will never forget that."

"As a father of two boys, one in high school and in college, these times, I would say is the most scared I have ever been. Coach Byrdsong use to say, there is good, there is bad and there is ignorant. What is going on right now is just sickening and ignorant. With people, if your bad, you can turn to good, if your good you can turn to bad, but when you're ignorant, there is nowhere to go."

The Titans were in a rebuilding mode when Kelley came on campus and one thing that was needed was to start a foundation built on hard work and dedication and he brought that to the table. A three-time All-League player, Kelley averaged double digits in all four seasons, starting at 10.0 points as a freshman.

"I took pride in developing every year to get better in some aspect. Coming into college, I was a defensive player and I didn't really have an outside shot so I made a point to focus on perimeter shooting and I would go on to become one of the better three-point shooters in the conference. I remember putting in a lot of work and time" added Kelley. 

That all paid off as he increased his scoring to 15.9 points as a sophomore and a career-best 16.1 as a junior, leading the squad in both seasons, and ending his career with 15.4 points as a senior. In his final collegiate campaign, the red, white and blue put together its first winning record in eight years, finishing 15-12 overall and 7-7 in the conference.

"We had a lot of talent, but the conference was so tough back then with Xavier, Butler, Dayton, Marquette, just a lot of good programs," said Kelley. "We were talented and competed, but it was tough and it took a few years to really get over that hump and win."

But with Kelley's consistent work ethic and Byrdsong putting together a quality squad, the Titans started making some headway before his senior year and in his time, they battled some of the toughest teams in the nonconference in Michigan State, Michigan, Notre Dame, DePaul and others. In fact, the Titans were the first team on Michigan's Fab Five squad's schedule in 1991-92 at Cobo Arena. 

"I was recently talking to Shawn Respert, a high school teammate who played at Michigan State and in the NBA, and he was saying how when we came up to play them in Breslin when I was a junior, they thought they were just going to run through us but we played them tough and I hit seven three's so I remember that game well," said Kelley. "We beat Notre Dame on the road that year too when they had LaPhonso Ellis and the following season at home so those are some games I look back on. In the conference, we played hard, it was always a grind and we lost a lot of tough games early on."

"We started playing our games in Cobo right when coach Byrdsong got there and that sparked some excitement. We ran through the city as a team, each player took a couple of miles, and then he ran the last leg to Cobo. I remember how excited I was. We were getting some homegrown talent to stay and we played some good teams, Michigan State, Minnesota, Michigan's Fab 5, and we went out to Hawaii and won a tournament there."

Off the court might have been more valuable for Kelley then on the court. Learning the game from a great coaching staff was one thing, but being able to get a top-rate education from a private Catholic University was something that the Business Administration major never takes for granted.

"The University meant a lot to me," said Kelley. "The experience I got is phenomenal and it has prepared me for life, life as a college coach, and now life in my professional world in medical and pharmaceutical sales. That foundation that I got from the University is second to none and I will say that every day."

Before he moved into his sales position, Kelley stayed in the game as a basketball coach and was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Sam Houston State for four seasons before moving out of coaching for a job with better hours to spend more time with his family. 

"I loved coaching. If you're doing it the right way, coaching is like a ministry and you have the opportunity to develop people's lives that can last a lifetime," said Kelley. "I was always big on development when I was a player  and as a coach, your helping players develop as a player and person, mentally and physically. Being a young coach in my mid-20's, I was still able to get on the court and help them and that allowed me to really enjoy all the nuances of coaching."

"It was hard to get out of coaching, but the grind of being a coach and with a family and kids, I just wanted to be at home more so I chose to step away and I got into medical sales." 

Kelley is now the dad of three kids. His oldest daughter Tiroynei, has always been a leader and is now the wife of a navy man living in Guam. DJ is a redshirt freshman guard at Sam Houston State and Drake is a sophomore in high school. Both have followed his footsteps in playing the game of basketball and both will have to put in the same hard work he did to reach his level. 

"If you ask DJ about my scoring, he will say he will get that," said a laughing Kelley. "As a father, I might be biased, but when I was talking to coaches during his recruitment, I put my coaching hat on and I think he is special. He is a smarter player than I was, his basketball IQ is through the roof, and when his physical capability catches up to his mental capabilities, I think he's going to be fun to watch, but he has a long way to go catching up to dad. My youngest just finished his freshman year and I kind of took my hands off of him a bit and let him be, but even my oldest said he is a monster, so my job is to just get out of the way. But it is definitely special seeing both of them play a game they love and that I love."

Going through the recruiting process again as a dad and remembering what it was like for him, Kelley knows that the first priority needs to be about education. The University offered him a lot and he knows how valuable the decision is. 

"Choosing a college and looking at education is the most important decision I told my sons," said Kelley. "For me, I chose a smaller University, the one-on-one attention I received was great. Obviously, the coaching I got was one thing, but the support and fundamentals that were taught in the classroom are second to none and I can honestly say that I am who I am because of all the experience in the classroom and relationships that I got at U-D."