Ashley Beverly Kelley

Classroom

Ashley Beverly Kelley will graduate from Troy University in July 2016 with a degree in exercise science and a concentration in wellness and fitness. After what she hopes will be a professional basketball career, she wants to use her degree to become a personal trainer and open her own gym.

Character

Beverly Kelley regularly volunteers at the Troy Recreation Center, teaching basketball and life skills to children from 6 years of age all the way up to high school students. She never got the individual one-on-one instruction that she thinks young children learning the game of basketball deserve, so she is looking to give that attention to students in the Troy community. She is an excellent ball handler on the court and loves to teach those skills to children of all ages. Students in the community look up to Beverly Kelley as a role model, and she not only teaches them basketball skills, but also the importance of staying in school and working hard to achieve their goals in school and in basketball. 

Beverly Kelley also is actively working on improving her leadership skills. She meets with Lonnie Cochran, Troy’s Mentor Coordinator, each week. Beverly Kelley and fellow senior Rachel Reid openly discuss their personal and team goals and work on the skills they need to hold themselves, each other and their teammates accountable for the attainment of those goals.

Community

Beverly Kelley has volunteered with numerous community service initiatives through her position with Troy University and its women’s basketball team. She most recently worked with Troy’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee to donate shoes to the Troy Christian Love Center. She also has volunteered at the Troy Boys & Girls Club teaching basketball drills and the importance of performing well in school. She and her teammates have taken part in clean-up efforts around the city of Troy as part of the Adopt-A-Mile program and Troy’s Team Up and Clean Up campaign. In each of her seasons at Troy, Beverly Kelley and her teammates also have donated to Toys for Tots. Around Christmas Beverly Kelley and teammates visited Troy Elementary School and passed out bookmarks to encourage the students to read. They also visited a kindergarten class at Christ the King Elementary School in Evansville, Ind., while playing a road game at Evansville and did arts and crafts with the children. She also volunteers with the Salvation Army at their Empty Bowls event.

Competition

Beverly Kelley has been instrumental in the turnaround of the Troy women’s basketball program. The year before her arrival (2011-12), the Trojans went 2-26 and relieved the head coach of his duties. Chanda Rigby took over as the program’s head coach and Beverly Kelley, despite signing with another coach, stuck with her and the Trojans. Since then, Beverly Kelley and Rigby have turned the Trojans around. Last season Troy went 20-11—the first 20-win season in nearly two decades for the program—and finished third in the Sun Belt, the highest finish in program history. Troy also played in the WBI, making the program’s first postseason appearance in nearly two decades. 

Beverly Kelley has been a huge part of the team’s success, twice being named to the All-Sun Belt Team. Following last season she was also named a Mid-Major All-American by CollegeSportsMadness.com and averaged 17.6 points per game, ranking second in the Sun Belt. The Adamsville, Ala., native averaged 19.8 points per Sun Belt game, the best mark in the league. She has already eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in her career and entered her senior season with 1,316 points, already the 11th most in program history.