FLEMINGSBURG — The Fleming County community lost a basketball coaching legend and trusted friend Thursday with the death of Lake Kelly.
Kelly, 75, died in his hometown of Flemingsburg early Thursday morning following medical complications.
“He was loved in the community and he had a reach that extended well beyond Fleming County,” said friend Stanley Benton, who served with Kelly on the Fleming County Museum Society. “He was a brilliant person.”
Beyond his high school and college basketball coaching achievements, Kelly was a retired school administrator and active community leader who was never shy about helping young people succeed.
“As a coach and administrator in our schools, Mr. Kelly touched the lives of countless youth who were fortunate enough to play for him or walk the halls in which he served as principal and assistant principal,” said a statement released Thursday on behalf of Fleming County Schools. “We send our deepest condolences to his wife Marty, and the entire Kelly family. He will be sorely missed.”
FCS Superintendent Kelley Crain said she will continue to keep the Kelly family in her prayers.
“I have always considered Mr. Kelly and his wife Marty special people,” said Crain. “They have unselfishly devoted so much time to Fleming County projects such as the Park Lake Mountain Nature Preserve, and have such a sincere concern for others.”
Kelly worked for Fleming Schools for more than 15 years, most recently as assistant principal of Flemingsburg Elementary School until his retirement in January.
Born in Flemingsburg Oct. 4, 1933, Kelly attended Fleming County High School and graduated from Columbia Military Academy, and later from Georgia Tech. Famed for his love and knowledge of basketball, Kelly’s coaching career spanned more than 40 years and included positions at the high school and college levels.
For eight years he coached the Fleming County Panthers, capturing back-to-back 10th Region championships and Sweet Sixteen appearances in what many consider the most exciting two-year run in the county’s history.
He announced retirement after the 2001-02 season, but stayed on as coach an extra year until the school district could find a replacement.
Troy Lee Thomas, now head coach at Green County, was an assistant coach under Kelly at Flemingsburg from 1996 to 2000.
“I was very very close to him. He was a father figure to me,” said Thomas. “It was a dream for me to be underneath a guy with so much knowledge and value and love for the game.
“He taught me everything I know.”
Right up until his death, Thomas said he spoke with Kelly two or three times a day to get advice on offensive and defensive strategies, ask for suggestions about a particular player who was struggling, or simply just to talk about practice and basketball in general.
Thomas said Kelly was always glad to help out with his unparalleled expertise, and players responded to him.
“The players all loved and respected him, and he got the best out of them,” said Thomas.
Prior to coaching in Flemingsburg, Kelly spent several seasons as head coach at Clark County and was inducted into the Region 10 Hall of Fame. He also held high school coaching positions in Amelia, Ohio, as well as Lafayette High School in Lexington and Columbia Central High School in Tennessee.
Kelly stood out as a university-level coach as well.
From 1971 until 1977, Kelly brought national attention to Austin Peay University in Tennessee, leading the Governors to an Ohio Valley Conference Championship in 1972-73 and an OVC Co-Championship the following season.
Kelly left Austin Peay in 1977, but returned in 1985 and stayed on for five more seasons. He led APSU to three NCAA appearances in all.
He was also head coach of Oral Roberts University for two years, coached in various capacities at Morehead State University and Loyola New Orleans, and was an assistant coach under Joe Hall at the University of Kentucky.
Thomas said Kelly was respected by some of college basketball’s most recognizable names and was considered by many, including former University of Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins and Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury to have been the best defensive coach in the country while at APSU.
Kelly remained a basketball fan all his life and took every opportunity to watch his grandson, Drew — a standout in his own right who is reportedly headed to play for the University of Miami (Ohio.)
“Coach Kelly talked so much about going to Miami of Ohio to watch Drew play, he couldn’t wait to get up there,” Thomas said.
Always open to sharing the pearls of basketball wisdom he had acquired through the years, Thomas said Kelly was working on The Lake Effect, a book about his defensive philosophies and strategies.
Thomas still has 17 notebooks filled with Kelly’s game plans and advice. Thomas said he would like to help finish the book to pass on Kelly’s vision and ideas to others.
“God willing, I’d like to finish it with his own words that he passed on to me, and dedicate it to him,” Thomas said.
Services for Kelly will be held at 2 p.m., Sunday, March 8 at Fleming County High School.
Visitation will be held after 4 p.m. Saturday at the high school.
A complete obituary appears in today’s Ledger Independent.
Contact Michael Arthur at michael.arthur@lee.net or call 606-564-9091, ext. 271.