Westmont College Athletics

By Tim Heiduk
May 27, 2020
 
(CAIRNS, Queensland) Westmont men's basketball alumnus Mike Kelly, head coach of the Cairns Taipans in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL), has steadily moved his way up in the professional coaching world. His efforts culminated in being named 2019-20 NBL Coach of the Year, when he led his team to the playoff semifinals in Australia's top league.
 
"Making the playoffs this year with a team that no one gave a chance was really cool," Kelly said. "I loved the chemistry of this Taipans team."
 
In 2019-20, year two of his head coaching tenure, Kelly improved his team's win total by 11, guiding the Cairns Taipans to their first postseason appearance since the 2016-17 season.
 
The Taipans fell 2-1 in their best-of-three semifinal series against the eventual NBL champion Perth Wildcats, who featured league MVP Bryce Cotton and former NBA forward Miles Plumlee.
 
Before receiving his current head coaching job, Kelly spent 12 years as an assistant coach for five different teams. Most recently, he was an assistant for Melbourne United, whom he helped coach to the team's first ever NBL championship in the 2017-18 season.
 
Kelly said: "My favorite memories have been when our team has played up to its potential, when we have been considered underdogs and come out and beat talented teams. Winning a championship with Melbourne United was special."
 
Kelly said his coaching philosophy is: "Compete and get better."
 
"I love seeing players grow as people and basketball players," Kelly said. "At the professional level I have gotten to work with talented, driven players. I love the challenge of trying to bring out the best in players and how each player can help the team be its best."
 
Kelly's coaching path has followed a similar trajectory to that of his playing career, moving up one level to the next.
 
After his Mater Dei High School basketball team went undefeated his senior year, Kelly remained in his hometown of Costa Mesa to play two years at Orange Coast College. There, he helped his team to the state playoffs as a sophomore and was noticed by the Westmont coaching staff.
 
"Westmont assistant Greg Marshall saw me play at Orange Coast College and mentioned me to Coach (Chet) Kammerer," Kelly said. "I really didn't know anything about Westmont, but really liked the coaches and the players when I went up to visit. Brad Smidt was a friend who was playing there. We ended up being roommates and have stayed close."
 
Kelly played at Westmont for two seasons, helping the Warriors to their first ever Golden State Athletic Conference regular season title in 1987-88. He earned All-GSAC honors in both his seasons as a Warrior.
 
He currently ranks 13th in program history in assists per game (3.8), 17th in both points per game (14.2) and steals per game (1.5), and 18th in free throw percentage (.798). Kelly also added 5.5 rebounds per contest in his career.
 
"I loved the friends I met at Westmont through basketball and just being on campus," Kelly said. "Westmont was the place I got challenged about my faith and it made me think about what I believed."
 
After graduating from the college in 1989 with an economics and business degree, Kelly realized he wasn't ready for his basketball career to be over.
 
"After I finished at Westmont, I just wanted to keep playing basketball," Kelly said. "Coach Kammerer helped me get to a team in Taiwan. I learned how to live in a foreign environment and work on my game. After one season in Taiwan I got an opportunity in Australia. Over 15 years, I played at every level in Australia."
 
Kelly played for a total of eight professional teams from 1989-2005. He won the 1993 South East Australian Basketball League title with the North East Melbourne Arrows. Then in 1996, Kelly and the Melbourne Magic won the NBL title, Australia's top prize.
 
Individually, Kelly was twice selected as the NBL Defensive Player of the Year.
 
His playing career ended in 2005 with the Wollongong Hawks, the first team he served as an assistant coach for.
 
After coaching his former professional team from 2006-07, Kelly returned to the United States, where he was an assistant at Westmont's GSAC rival Vanguard for two seasons. He then moved up to the NCAA Division I ranks with Utah Valley, serving as an assistant coach for four years, including in 2011-12 when current Westmont assistant coach Rob Goodrow served as Director of Basketball Operations.
 
Then Kelly made his move back to Australia, first coaching with the Townsville Crocodiles (2013-15) and then Melbourne United (2015-18), before taking over as head coach of the Cairns Taipans.
 
In his coaching career, Kelly has coached against teams with the likes of Portland Trail Blazers' All-Star guard Damian Lillard, Denver Nuggets' forward Torrey Craig and top-2020 NBA Draft prospect LaMelo Ball, a younger brother of New Orleans Pelicans' guard Lonzo Ball.
 
Kelly said, "I have been fortunate to coach too many great people to name."
 
As Kelly has moved on to coach professionally, he is still reminded of the examples of great coaching he experienced as a player.
 
"I was so lucky to have great coaches, starting with my dad in the driveway, all the way through high school and junior college," Kelly said. "I felt like the coaches I had from grade school right through high school prepared me to compete and get used to working hard and playing for your teammates."
 
Those examples of great coaching continued when he played at Westmont.
 
"The coaches at Westmont were fantastic and taught me a lot," Kelly said. "As I thought about coaching, I always hoped I could aspire to be like Chet Kammerer as a coach. He is passionate, taught the game well and did everything with love. That's my goal and it's something I am still trying to reach."
 
Kelly still remains connected to Westmont, beyond just trying to emulate his former coach. His daughter Ashton recently graduated from the college earlier this month with a Bachelor of Science in Cellular and Molecular Biology, while also minoring in chemistry. Ashton often worked the shot clock during games for her dad's former Westmont team.
 
"Annette and I were so happy that Ashton chose to go to Westmont," Kelly said of his and his wife's reaction to their daughter's college choice. "We felt if she was living on the other side of the world, she couldn't pick a better place. It's such a great place and we have friends in Santa Barbara and family in Orange County. I am grateful to the people there that have looked after her."
 
Kelly is the latest former Warrior to coach professionally, joining the likes of previous Westmont coaches or players Chet Kammerer, Randy Pfund, Ron Mulder, Arnie Beck, Chad Kammerer and Shogo Fukuda.
 
"I love coaching and I hope I can be the one to decide how long I get to do it," Kelly said. "I know that I am fortunate to do what I do."
 
Along his steady journey toward earning NBL Coach of the Year honors this past season, Kelly is well on his way to realizing that desire.