Kentucky WBB hires Crystal Kelly as assistant coach

The offseason of staff changes continues for Kyra Elzy’s program.

On Friday morning, Kentucky women’s basketball announced that Crystal Kelly has been hired as the team’s newest assistant coach. She will replace former UK assistant Amber Smith, who accepted an assistant coaching job with the Indiana Hoosiers earlier this month. Kelly, who was a star player at Western Kentucky before spending some time in the WNBA, has been an assistant coach in some capacity since 2012. She was most recently the associate head coach at Towson University for the last two seasons.

“It is with great anticipation that we announce the hiring of Crystal Kelly,” Elzy said in UK’s press release. “She is the total package. She takes great pride in being a product of Kentucky, and she understands the responsibility that it holds. Crystal was a talented in-state basketball player, which will benefit our program in numerous ways, but she also has had proven success in her coaching career. I have a lot of confidence in Crystal, and her contagious energy, competitive spirit and winning pedigree checks all the boxes for our program.” 

At Kentucky, Kelly will primarily work with post players while also overseeing recruiting efforts.

We are ✨extra eager✨ to announce that Kentucky native and 2004 Miss Kentucky Basketball, @c42k, who has more than a decade of coaching experience, is returning to the Bluegrass as our new assistant coach.

👑😻💙💪https://t.co/POCN5mExFS

— Kentucky Women’s Basketball (@KentuckyWBB) June 30, 2023

Kelly is a Louisville, KY native, having played her high school basketball at Sacred Heart Academy where she was named an All-American, a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004, and Kentucky Miss Basketball in 2004. She also participated in the 2004 WBCA High School All-America Game. Sacred Heart won three consecutive state titles (’02-04) behind Kelly’s impressive play.

Standing at 6-foot-2, Kelly was an incredibly skilled forward from an early age and continued that into her college days at Western Kentucky and beyond. She was even recruited to WKU by Elzy, who was an assistant with the program from 2002-24.

During four seasons with the Hilltoppers, Kelly cemented her legacy as arguably the greatest basketball player to ever suit up in Bowling Green. She holds the program’s all-time record for career points (2,803), rebounds (1,258), field goal percentage (61.7), and free throws made (885), among other accolades. Kelly was named first-team All-Sun Belt all four years and her No. 42 jersey has been retired by WKU. She is one of just 34 players in DI college women’s basketball history to finish her career with at least 2,500 points and 1,000 rebounds.

Following her time in college, Kelly was selected in the third round of the 2008 WNBA by the Houston Comets. She would spend three seasons in the league and later made professional stops in Spain, Italy, and Brazil before beginning her coaching career in 2012. Kelly got her start as an assistant at Bellarmine (’12-16) before enjoying stints at Tennessee Tech (’16-17), Xavier (’17-19), Tennesse Tech again (’19-20) Bellarmine again (’20-21), and most recently Towson as the associate head coach (’21-23).

“Returning to my home state to coach at the University of Kentucky is such a privilege and honor,” Kelly said. “Coaching alongside Coach Elzy, who has mentored me for many years, is truly a full circle moment. As I step into this new role, I’m eager to build relationships with the student-athletes, collaborate with the staff and immerse myself in the unwavering passion of Big Blue Nation.” 

Kelly is just the latest addition to Elzy’s staff ahead of the 2023-24 season. In recent months, UK has also added Jenny Huth as associate coach of player development, Jodi Ansert as a recruiting assistant, and Liz Brown as the NIL director.