Kelly comfortable with Spartans
Michigan State was the first school to offer Oak Park, Mich., 2015 athlete John Kelly and he was back on campus again Wednesday visiting with a program he is getting very comfortable with.
"Everyone was really welcoming," Kelly said. "Once we got to the basketball game, the football players were all with us and sitting in the same section. I was talking to Darqueze Dennard a lot. I also talked to Lawrence Thomas a lot. We were just hanging out and having a good time."
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Prior to attending Michigan State's home basketball game against North Carolina, Kelly and the other recruits on campus were allowed to sit in on the Spartan's Big Ten Championship game preparations.
"I got a chance to go into the position room with the running backs coach," Kelly said. "Then, I paid close attention to the running backs when they were going through their drills. After that we broke down some film and hung around to meet some of the players. It really impressed me."
The 5-foot-10, 170-pound Kelly could project to running back or defensive back in college, and the coaches of those respective positions are each courting the Oak Park athlete to their group.
"I went over to the running back coach and he was talking to me the longest," Kelly said. "Then, the defensive back coach, Coach [Harlon] Barnett, also started talking to me, but the running backs coach was making sure that he wasn't trying to steal me."
If Michigan State does end up recruiting Kelly for offense, the junior likes what he sees out of the running back position.
"They run the ball an awful lot. They really do stress running the ball," Kelly said. "Recruiting-wise there are not too many guys they are really looking at for the running back position in the class of 2015, and there is a lot of depth that could be filled at that position."
Besides Michigan State, Kelly also holds an offer from Western Michigan. Fellow Detroit-area junior Tyson Smith made a commitment to the Spartans during Wednesday's visit, but Kelly is not that far along in his process yet.
"I am going to wait out the process a little bit longer than that," Kelly said. "I think it is going to be taken into my senior year when I make my decision."
Numerous other schools are showing interest in Kelly. Maryland assistant coach Lee Hull visited Oak Park High on Monday to check in on Kelly.
"Maryland, they were looking forward to offering me somewhere down the road, maybe in a month or so," Kelly said. 'They said their offering process takes the head coach to clear it, but they said they definitely have me on the list as an offer guy."
Kelly said his next college visit will likely be to Minnesota either later this month or early next.