Nicci Kelly begins her first season with the Kennesaw State women's basketball team after joining the Owls in June of 2015.
Prior to joining the Owls, Kelly served as a graduate assistant coach for East Tennessee State for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons, where she was responsible for summer player development, management of managers, gear and equipment and coordination of post-game and team meals. She also assisted on the social media and marketing strategy as well as on-campus recruiting and academics.
Before going to ETSU, Kelly spent the 2013-14 campaign as an assistant girls’ varsity basketball coach at her alma mater Choctawhatchee High School in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. During her tenure with the Indians, the team went 31-1 overall including an undefeated regular season and a Florida 6A state runner-up finish.
A standout player in her own right, Kelly played two seasons at Louisiana State University (LSU) from 2008 to 2011 under Hall of Fame head coach Van Chancellor after starting her collegiate career at Northwest Florida State College from 2006 to 2008.
The team co-caption while at NFSC, she was named to the All-Panhandle Conference Team and earned All-Panhandle Conference academic honors and Florida College System Activities Association Academic All-State accolades.
As an LSU Tiger, Kelly was a two-year co-captain and helped lead her team to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. As a senior, she earned the Sue Gunter Courage award, the Kisha James Outstanding Teammate honor and the Cornelia Gayden Outstanding Attitude award after her final season was cut short due to a foot injury prior to the season. In her first season with the Tigers, the junior transfer played in 30 games and shot over 40 percent from both the field and the three-point line.
Following her collegiate career, Kelly played one year of professional basketball in Yongin, South Korea for the Samsung Bichimi of the Women’s Korean Basketball League (WKBL) from 2011-12.
A native of Shalimar, Fla., Kelly earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from LSU in 2011 and a master’s degree in professional communication at ETSU in May of 2015.
