Sophomore Cole Kelly leads Neuqua Valley to its 25th consecutive win, eyes a run to Champaign
It’s time for Naperville to wake up and realize that one of the country’s best basketball prospects is putting on a show in Neuqua Valley’s gym multiple times a week.
Cole Kelly, a 6-7 sophomore, turned in another dazzling performance on Wednesday in a 74-43 win against visiting Yorkville Christian.
Kelly finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals. He shot 8-for-15 and threw down a vicious tip dunk.
Neuqua Valley is a consistently strong program and has posted big win totals and long win streaks in previous seasons. The No. 6 Wildcats are 27-1 this season and have won 25 consecutive games. In past years, that didn’t regularly lead to deep playoff runs. Neuqua Valley has played in two supersectionals (2008, 2009) but never advanced to state.
“The energy is definitely higher than last year,” Kelly said. “But it would help us get over that hump to become a great team if there was more energy, for sure. There needs to be something to get the town as a whole into it, not just Neuqua. This is a good year for us to do that.”
Todd Sutton is the only coach in school history. Neuqua Valley opened in 1997.
“Friday nights are packed here, but [Naperville] is very divided,” Sutton said. “We are at the south end of town and we really don’t count. We are on a little island down here. But we take care of our own.”
Kelly is a top-40 player in the national sophomore class and has college offers from Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and Drake. He’s averaging 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists and shooting 52%.
Kelly is turning in one of the most impressive sophomore seasons the area has seen in many years. Warren’s Jaxson Davis won Mr. Basketball last season after an impressive run to the state championship game as a sophomore. Bolingbrook’s Davion Thompson won the Sun-Times Player of the Year as a sophomore last season. But neither player was as good as Kelly has been this year.
“You wouldn’t believe what we see in practice,” Sutton said. “It is [Kelly’s] passing. Wait until he gets stars around him.”
Neuqua Valley is in the Class 4A Bolingbrook Sectional which features top-ranked Benet, No. 8 Bolingbrook and a slew of dangerous unranked teams including Naperville North, Downers Grove North, Oswego East, Oswego and Plainfield East.
“We can definitely make it far this year,” Wildcats junior Luke Balgro said. “Our chemistry has really improved. We are practicing really hard and moving the ball well and getting everyone involved.”
Kelly isn’t alone. Junior Mason Martin also averages 20 points a game and committed to Illinois this season. Martin had nine points and eight rebounds against Yorkville Christian (16-10).
Balgro, point guard Carter Coviello and guard Arshil Khimani have improved steadily throughout the 25-game win streak.
“I thought we would be above average this year,” Sutton said. “People always tell me I’m sandbagging. But [Coviello] has had a good year. Balgro came out of nowhere and had a tremendous year. Guys we didn’t expect have really played well and the bench has been fantastic.”
Naperville is a football city and not a basketball hotbed, but Kelly is the best high-school basketball player the city has seen since Candace Parker graduated from Naperville Central in 2004. Maybe it will take a run to state for the excitement to truly ramp up.
“It’s been a good year for me and the team,” Kelly said. “We have to take care of business against DeKalb and Naperville North to win the conference. I am hunting for a state championship. But the sectional is stacked and making it out of there is going to be super tough.”