As Chambersburg boys basketball coach Shawn Shreffler drove away from Ohio University on Sept. 6, with senior JJ Kelly in his backseat, he sensed that his star player would be returning to that campus.
"He was extremely excited," Shreffler said. "I've been around him quite a bit. We often joke about how many hours we've spent together in a car, going places and whatnot. When I looked in the rearview mirror at him, his body language was different than any time I'd ever seen him, just the giddiness and how excited he was. He just absolutely loved the visit and had a great, great feel."
Three days later, Kelly announced his commitment to play Division I men's basketball for the Ohio Bobcats of the Mid-American Conference.
"I visited a decent amount of schools, talked to a lot of coaches, and when I went to Ohio, it just felt right," said Kelly, a 6-foot-6, 195-pound guard.
Before he decided on a school, he had to choose his sport.
Kelly, one of the most talented athletes the area has seen, also received Division I offers for football and track and field.
"My heart's always been with basketball," he said. "I always knew from the get-go what sport I wanted to play, but once other offers came in, other opportunities, it got a little hectic.
"I just had to think about my long-term goal, which is to get drafted into the NBA. I've been playing a bunch of sports my entire life, so when I get to college, it's time to take basketball truthfully to the next level."
Sold on Ohio University
Kelly said other schools on top of his basketball list included Florida Gulf Coast, La Salle, St. Bonaventure and George Mason.
After his visit to Ohio, he was sold on the Bobcats.
"They were phenomenal," Shreffler said. "Just meeting with the staff, the way they treated him, the way they explained to him how they would develop him as a player and as a person, they were very trusting. That came through loud and clear from their staff. He got a great feel, and I'm really happy for him because he didn't chase just a name or a level or something like that. He's truly committed to wanting to get better, and he felt like this was the perfect place for him to continue to develop as player, as a person and as a student."
Ohio went 20-13 last year for its fifth straight winning season. The Bobcats have made 13 appearances in the NCAA tournament, most recently in 2021, when they upset Virginia in the first round. In 2012, Ohio advanced to the Sweet 16.
Kelly said he plans to make an immediate impact at the college level.
"I'm going to play," he said. "I don't care how I have to earn it or what I have to do. I'm going to get in there. I'm not going to be redshirting."
JJ Kelly still has room to grow
In his three years as a starter for Chambersburg, Kelly has scored 1,348 points and recorded 29 double-doubles. Barring something unforeseen, he will become the program's all-time leading scorer early in the 2024-25 sesaon. Eric Bender, a 1996 graduate, owns the Trojans' career record for boys with 1,394 points.
Last season as a junior, Kelly averaged 21.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.1 blocks per game, leading Chambersburg to a 20-7 record. The Trojans were the District 3 Class 6A runners-up and advanced to the second round of the PIAA state playoffs.
As a senior, Kelly wants to go out on top.
"I definitely want to get me and my team a district title under our belts. That would be a great experience," he said. "Hopefully, we can go a little bit farther at states, and we're looking for a league title this year as well."
Shreffler said Kelly only has shown growth as a player, a trend he expects to continue for some time.
"His leadership has grown, and his ability at the defensive end and becoming a much more versatile defender has grown," he said. "In seeing all those things, I still believe that he is just only starting to scratch the surface of who he eventually will be. He's just been, to this point, a lifelong learner, and I expect that to continue because he has the abitilty to add more things to his game, and he has that athleticism to go along with it. As you combine those two things, that skill set and that athleticism, he'll just continue to get better and better and better."
What is JJ Kelly's best sport?
Basketball might not even be Kelly's best sport.
He recently made MileSplit's national top-50 list of Class of 2025 boys recruits in track and field.
As a sophom*ore, he set school records in the long jump (23-1 1/2) and triple jump (49-2) and cleared 6-10 in the high jump.
At the state meet that year, Kelly successfully defended his title in the triple jump and added gold medals in the high jump and 4x100 relay and a bronze in the long jump, leading Chambersburg to the boys team title.
However, as a junior last spring, his track season ended early as he played in AAU basketball tournaments instead of competing in the championship track meets in May.
His lone Division I track offer came from North Carolina A&T.
"Most of them probably already knew that wasn't going to be my route," said Kelly, who is unsure if he'll rejoin the Trojans' track team this spring.
Kelly also received offers to play football at Syracuse and Iowa State, despite not playing since his sophom*ore year, when he had 447 yards receiving and five touchdowns.
But basketball is his future.
"It's God's plan that he had for me," Kelly said. "I'm just following it."
