Her teammates describe her as a silent leader who lets her game do all the talking. Her coaches describe her as the ideal player to coach, saying her love for the game of basketball is contagious. A Skyline student athlete will be transferring and leaving the women’s basketball program next semester to pursue her educational and lifelong goals.
Kelly Huey, a standout athlete and leader on the Lady Trojans basketball team, will prepare to transfer to Concordia University, a private Christian university located in Portland, Oregon, and a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics division school. Huey was offered an athletic scholarship and will prepare to transfer to the university after graduation this spring.
“I decided to go to Concordia because they seemed to have the most interest, and a good fit all the way around with their nursing and basketball program,” said Huey.
Before coming to Skyline, Huey originally decided not to play basketball coming out of high school to focus on pursuing a nursing degree from SFSU. She served as an assistant coach to her high school basketball team Abraham Lincoln in San Francisco while attending SFSU during her first year in college.
Soon enough, coaches from the Skyline women’s basketball program found out about Huey’s situation and realized she could very well be fit to play rather than coach.
Skyline women’s basketball head coach Trisha Hosley and assistant coach Chris Watters never gave up on recruiting Huey to play out of high school, and they came down extra hard when recruiting her after finding out she was serving as an assistant coach at her old high school rather than playing.
“She told me she was too nervous and didn’t know if she could be a freshman at state and play basketball,” said Hosley. “I went up to her after a game one day and said to her that if you have the time to be an assistant coach, you have time to play basketball, so you should play.” From there, Huey committed to playing two full seasons of eligibility at Skyline. She led the team in almost every statistical category this past season, averaging 14.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. In the two seasons Huey has played at Skyline, she scored a total of 732 points, including a career high of 28 points against Las Positas College this past season, and 24 points in a game against City College of San Francisco earlier this year. Lady Trojans basketball player Stephanie Del Bianco, a freshmen and a teammate of Huey last season, described her as a huge part of this team, someone who never makes excuses.
“She always gives it 110% and never makes any excuses,” said Del Bianco. “That’s what a leader should be like. . . . We fed off her energy a lot, and she did a good job of that.”
In addition to Huey transferring to Concordia University this coming fall semester, she currently holds a 4.0 GPA at Skyline. Huey explained why she felt Concordia was the right school for her.
“I’ve been a Christian my whole life,” said Huey. “It definitely helped shape my decision, and I definitely want to keep on that path. . . . My family, coaches, and teammates are really excited for me, too; it’s been a really good experience so far.”