Unable to hit the court, Wheaton's Kelly hit books hard

January 27, 2004

Written by Mike Szostak of the Providence Journal

Sean Kelly, the Wheaton College point guard from Providence, took a crash course in Adversity 101 last semester. Unfortunately for the 5-foot-11, 170-pound former Wheeler School All-Stater, the course work may trickle over to this semester, as well.

Kelly missed the first seven games of this season while recovering from surgery to reinflate his partially collapsed left lung. He returned Jan. 4 and set a school record with 12 assists in a 25-point romp over Rutgers-Camden. Three games later, against Clark, the two-time defending NEWMAC champion, he sprained an ankle, sidelining him for the last four games.

Kelly had hoped to return last Saturday against MIT, but now is aiming for tonight against Babson.

Rather than feel bitter about these physical setbacks, Kelly has focused on the lessons and opportunities they have provided.

"This has had nothing but a positive effect on me," he said last week from Wheaton's campus in Norton, Mass. "As difficult as it is to deal with the lung thing and the ankle and the frustration of watching games, when you aspire to play at a higher level, you realize, inevitably, that it's going to come to an end. This has opened my eyes to that reality. It will help me ease into it."

Unable to practice last fall, Kelly used the extra time to study and made the Dean's List for the first time.

"As much as I say I'm a student first and an athlete second, deep down inside I knew it wasn't true. So making the Dean's List was a great accomplishment," he said.

An English major, Kelly would ultimately like to go to graduate school, teach and write books. He has already written a memoir as part of a senior project at Wheeler.

"I like to sit there and put things on paper," he said.

This opportunity for introspection arose last Oct. 29, about 10 days after the start of basketball practice. Kelly was in great shape and executing a normal drill when pain jolted the left side of his body. He thought he was having a heart attack. The trainer called a rescue unit, but paramedics determined that his vital signs were normal and did not transport him to a hospital.

The pain, centered between his ribs, had not subsided by the next day and was worse when he took a deep breath. He visited a nearby clinic and was told he probably suffered a strain while working out. The Wheaton trainer agreed.

Halloween morning, he saw his family physician in Providence. She suspected a collapsed lung, or pneumothorax, and was also concerned about his heart. A cardiologist gave him a 12-minute stress test on an exercise bike, which he passed. His heart was sound.

But an x-ray showed he had suffered a 30 percent collapse in his left lung. That same day, he was admitted to Rhode Island Hospital, where doctors inserted a tube to inflate his lung. The procedure took a couple of days. The lung collapsed again when the tube was removed, and Kelly required a repeat procedure. He was in the hospital for nine days.

"I was plowing through books. I read four or five. Pat Conroy. Kurt Vonnegut. I had four roommates. That's when you know you're in there for a while," he said.

Kelly returned to Wheaton the second week in November and was way behind in all of his classes. His teachers understood, however, and granted him "extensions galore." He caught up before Thanksgiving.

Catching up physically was another matter. A specialist told him not to do anything until Jan. 1.

"That would be 60-plus days since I played. I couldn't do anything. Sitting out and waiting to heal, I'm all for team, but sitting when you're competitive is tough. It's such a sharp decline when you go from talk of being one of the best point guards in the league to not playing."

During the holiday break, Kelly lifted weights at Brown and put up a few shots in the Pizzitola Center. He tired easily.

Told to expect a burning sensation in his lung when he resumed practice, Kelly was still surprised by the severity.

"I thought it was happening all over again, but I had x-rays, and they were okay," he said. He has adjusted to the burning feeling and expects it will subside during the year.

Kelly returned to the starting lineup Jan. 4. He didn't have a chance to come off the bench and play his way into game shape because freshman Brian Zukowski, who has started in his absence, suffered severe injuries in a New Year's Eve car crash that may have ended his season.

Kelly passed for 12 assists, a Wheaton single-game record, in the 101-76 triumph over Rutgers-Camden.

"My teammates responded very well to having me out there," he said. "We have one of the best defenses in our conference, and I said in the huddle, kidding, our defense has been great. Now let's put some points up."

Wheaton lost to nationally ranked DeSales the following night, returned to New England and beat Fitchburg State, and then opened its NEWMAC season Jan. 13 at home against Clark.

"Six minutes into the game, I made a pass going down the lane and turned my ankle. I just tied my shoe tighter and didn't come out. After the game (an 80-76 loss) I took my shoe off and my ankle was huge, the size of a softball."

By the end of last week, Kelly, who had 28 assists in his four starts, had yet to resume jogging. The Lyons have won three of the four games he has missed this time and are 10-5 overall, 1-2 in the NEWMAC.

Kelly, who grew up in Providence' Elmhurst section, about seven houses from PC's Alumni Hall, decided to attend Wheaton after an anticipated financial aid package from Connecticut College didn't materialize.

"I saw the similarity between Wheeler and Wheaton. I tell my friends from high school that I'm going to Wheeler College," he said with a laugh.

But it's at Wheaton, not Wheeler, that Sean Kelly is passing Adversity 101 and learning that he is ultimately a student first and an athlete second.

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