Tre Kelley, a freshman contributor on the last Gamecock team to make the NCAAs and three-year starter, continues to chase his dream of playing in the NBA. Kelley came to Columbia after being born and raised in the northeast quadrant of Washington, DC, a rough part of the nation's capital.
Charania chronicles the difficulties Kelley faced and overcame on his way to becoming a first team All-SEC player in 2007, including the losses of a couple of very important people in his life:
Anything that goes on in life – the failures, people losing jobs – you just can’t compare to losing your mom, losing your dad and losing friends in the street. You can’t compare losing games to those things.
The whole thing is excellent, and you can find the piece here.
Kelley departed Carolina ranked in the top 10 in a number of categories: games played; assists; minutes played; made three pointers; and career scoring.
Since then, Kelley has bounced around both domestically and internationally, which included tours in Croatia, Israel, Lebanon, Belgium, China, Italy, and Venezuela. He's also been signed (and subsequently waived) by the Miami Heat (in 2008) and the Memphis Grizzlies (in 2010).
In 2013, Kelley signed with the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League. He's only played in three games so far this season, but is averaging 33.3 minutes per game, and an unsurprising 4.7 assists per night.