THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 5, 1994 TAG: 9411050953
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 36 lines
John Kelly, a former Old Dominion University assistant coach, has been named boys basketball coach at Lake Taylor High.
Kelly, 38, replaces Jarrell Wilkerson, who has taken an assistant coaching position at Hampton University.
Kelly's last head coaching experience was at Walsingham Academy in Williamsburg, where he was 57-28 from 1986 to 1989.
Kelly played under former ODU head coach Tom Young when Young was at Rutgers in the late 1970s and was a member of Rutgers' 1976 Final Four team. After leaving Rutgers in 1979, Kelly played in the British Isles.
He was an assistant at George Mason in 1982 and assisted Young at ODU from 1989 to 1991. He currently teaches American literature at ODU and has been a volunteer assistant coach at Maury the last two seasons.
Kelly inherits a Lake Taylor team that has not had a winning season since a high-water mark of 23-2 in 1984 when the Titans lost to Green Run, 55-54, in the Eastern Region final.
But the Titans showed improvement under Wilkerson and were 9-12 and 10-12 the last two seasons.
``I think Lake Taylor is ready to compete with the Booker T. Washingtons and Maurys of the Eastern District,'' Kelly said. ``I think we have a lot of talent and positive thoughts.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
John Kelly
by CNB