A-10 coach on Kellan Grady: "He's someone who definitely keeps you up at night"

Last off-season, KSR launched a series called “Getting to Know the new Guy” in which we connected with college and AAU coaches, for behind the scenes stories on what made certain players tick. 

This year, the series is back. We started with CJ Fredrick a few weeks ago, and today, KSR spoke with an assistant coach from the A-10 to discuss what makes former Davidson guard and new Kentucky Wildcat Kellan Grady so special. 

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It’s been an off-season of upheaval at Kentucky, one where both the roster and coaching staff have been completely flipped over since the Wildcats’ final game back in March.

But with all the excitement surrounding the arrivals of Chin Coleman and Orlando Antigua on the bench, and players like freshman TyTy Washington and transfers Sahvir Wheeler and CJ Fredrick, it feels like there is a name that is consistently being lost in the shuffle surrounding the excitement building toward the 2021-2022 Kentucky basketball season.

The name is “Kellan Grady.”

Grady was of course the Wildcats’ first big commitment of the off-season, at a time long before he knew who most of his teammates would be or who – outside of John Calipari – would even coach him. Still, while Grady’s name might be a bit overlooked heading into the 2021-2022 season at Kentucky, that same name still sends cold flashes down the spines of the coaches who used to face off against him.

The 6’5 guard who was one of the most feared players in all the A-10 over the last four years, earning All-A10 honors in four straight seasons, averaging at least 17 points per game in each of his four seasons. This week, KSR spoke with an A-10 coach to get a feel for who Grady is and what he will bring to the Wildcats. To avoid commenting on another team’s players, we kept the coach’s name and school affiliation anonymous.

But in the process of discussing Grady, the coach brought up a funny story that signifies what it’s like to face the new Wildcat. After spending an entire night before a match-up with Davidson game-planning for Grady, the Davidson star still went off for 25+ points in an overtime loss for the coach.

“It was a late start to begin with, and we got out of there late,” the A-10 coach said. “I had a dinner reservation with a guy that came into town, and this restaurant was closed, and the night before I didn’t sleep because I was like ‘What if he does this? What if he does that?'”

“So for two days in a row that f***er had me awake.”

He continued.

“You remember stuff like that. You remember guys that spook you out going into the game. That’s the biggest sign of respect.”

Respect is something that is earned over time in basketball, and there’s no doubt that by the time Grady left Davidson, he wasn’t just one of the most feared scorers in the A-10, but frankly anywhere in college basketball. And make no mistake: While Grady has been lauded for his three-point shooting (37+ percent in three of his four college seasons), he can get buckets from anywhere on the floor.

“He’s not just a shooter. He happens to make a lot of shots, but he’s not a ‘shooter,'” the coach said. “He can hit a three, he can shoot off the bounce, he can make a floater, he can make a pull-up, he can post you up.”

👀 @KellanGrady31 connecting with the kids of Kentucky during camp season!

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— Kentucky Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) June 22, 2021

Grady has also proven he can do it at the highest levels as well.

While there is always concern about player’s transferring “up” from the mid-major to the high-major level, it’s not as though Grady hasn’t performed in some of the biggest games, against the best opposition of his career. Grady dropped 28 points against Marquette a few weeks ago, had 20 points against ACC foe Wake Forest, 18 points against Purdue and 17 against Providence College last season.

Although this coach readily admits that some guys just aren’t cut out for the high-major level, he doesn’t believe that Grady is one of them.

“He’s a ‘figure it out’ guy,” the coach said. “He’s got tricks in his bag. He’s can spin, he can fake spin, he’s got the shoulder shimmy, he can drive, he can fake drive, he’s going to find the right trick in the bag to use. He’s a crafty f**k.”

The coach continued, comparing him to a player he formerly coached – TJ Warren. Warren is now in the NBA with the Indiana Pacers, where he averaged 20 points per game a season ago, before an injury-plagued 2021 campaign. Still, all the same gifts that make Warren one of the NBA’s best “bucket getters” are the same traits that Grady has.

“It’s purely natural for TJ,” the coach said. “In the heat of the moment, he’s not dissecting it, he’s just reacting and going. Kellan Grady is a lot of the same. He’s got so many innate skills in his bag, he just knows how to play, man.”

And finally, beyond the shooting and scoring, the one other place the coach believes Grady will be able to help in the locker room. It’s no secret that Kentucky didn’t have the most mature, focused group a season ago (which might be in part because of Covid restrictions), but Grady’s maturity as a soon-to-be 24-year-old, four-year starter in college hoops should only help. It’s something about KSR’s Jack Pilgrim wrote about on Wednesday, and something this coach believes he’ll bring as well.

“Mainly what I think he’ll do give is guidance on little things,” the coach said. “‘Like hey, eat the right food. Make sure you get a good stretch in. Make sure you see the trainer.'”

From there, the conversation began to wrap, and the coach was asked any final thoughts or memories he had on Grady. His answer was succinct.

“He’s definitely someone who keeps you up at night,” the coach said. “Like ‘oh s**t this dude is gonna go off on us.'”

Oh, and one more thing.

“In this new era, at a place like Kentucky, I think the ‘new one and done’ is going to be the best transfers,” the coach said.

“And I think they got one of the best transfers.”

To read on one of Kentucky’s other new marquee transfers this spring, CJ Fredrick, click here