Note: This article appeared in the Feb. 11, 2004 issue of CM Life. This is my only "award-winning" piece as I took second in the Michigan Press Association college newspaper contest for sports column writing. Maybe still my favorite (not best) piece I've ever done. I interviewed Kelso in the stands during the 100-year CMU men's basketball celebration and connected the dots on something I thought could work. Looking back, I wish I had gotten to the message sooner and, also, come out and said what I think: Jay Smith, pictured above, should do whatever he can to get Ben Kelso on his staff.
The old adage says that sometimes it isn’t what you know, it’s who you know.
And while most of the focus of the weekend’s 100-year celebration of men’s basketball was Dan Majerle’s return, the man who knows everyone went largely unnoticed.
Although Ben Kelso watched the game at Rose Arena in relative anonymity, it was apparent that he enjoyed returning to his alma mater.
But as the team struggled to hold its halftime lead, Kelso expressed the importance of bringing the legendary players back.
“It is a responsibility that all of us guys have to try to maintain CMU at a winning level,” he said.
Kelso is a basketball icon in the state of Michigan. It is part of men’s basketball coach Jay Smith’s job to make sure that guys like Kelso continue to be involved in the program.
Kelso is the CMU career scoring average leader and also played professionally.
He coached Detroit’s Cooley High School to three state championships.
Basically, if you were an elite player in the Detroit area for the past couple decades, you likely have a relationship with Kelso.
He also served as athletics director at Southfield High School before being removed from the position in December 2002.
Southfield school officials secretly set up a video camera and filmed Kelso and his wife collecting tickets for a football game that fall. They said the tape gave them all the evidence they needed to fire him.
However, prosecutors saw the tape and decided in March not to charge Kelso, citing a lack of evidence, according to the Detroit Free Press. Those that know Kelso best continually maintain that there is no way Kelso could be guilty of these charges.
Still, Kelso’s name has been tarnished.
It is would be difficult for another high school to give him an administrative position given the accusations. But, his record for serving as a mentor for young, disadvantaged children in the inner-city earned him trust in Detroit basketball circles.
“Ben Kelso is definitely an icon for basketball in this state,” Smith said.
Kelso knows he can deliver players to Division I programs and even outcoach several collegiate coaches. He cited relationships with former Detroit-area standouts Kevin Nelson and Joe Carr as players whom he encouraged to attend Central Michigan, and his legendary coaching record speaks for itself.
Kelso, 56, sought collegiate coaching jobs in the past, but could not take the pay cut that becoming a college assistant would entail.
However, since his financial burdens are lessened these days, he said he would entertain job offers, citing a desire to return to coaching.
Smith has to realize that too many talented Detroit-area players are leaving the state.
Some of these players might be projects in need of a strong mentor to star as college players. But they are also some of the same guys who have been torching the Chippewas in opposing uniforms this season.
Kelso and Smith are two of the largest personalities in Michigan basketball, but have both fallen on hard times lately. Right about now, they could both benefit from each other’s help.
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