It is said that the great athletes never rest or become complacent. Levi Kelly of Saint Albans, West Virginia fits that mold with what he accomplished in the month of February at the Nike SPARQ combines.
At his first SPARQ combine in Massillon, Ohio on February 15th Kelly finished the day with a 66.9 SPARQ rating, putting him second overall at the combine and third overall in the country at that time for the class of 2018. While many athletes would have been satisfied with such a feat, the 6â0â, 165 lb. quarterback simply wasnât and knew he was capable of much more.
Flash forward a week to February 22nd in Charlotte, North Carolina and Kelly confirmed his own expectations with blowing his old rating out of the water with an 81.06 ratingâimproving by 14.16 points. In Charlotte Kelly improved in nearly every combine drill, but most drastically improved was his 40-yard dash time, which saw him shave nearly .2 seconds off his time to 4.77. Another big change was his was vertical jump, which saw him gain 4.5 inches in just a weekâs time up to 30.5
The eye-opening performance gives him the second highest SPARQ rating for all middle school quarterbacks in the 2018 class, behind only DeJuan Ellis who was ranked the No.1 quarterback on this summerâs 2018 Elite 101.
For Kelly this latest success is just the latest in a middle school career full of great accomplishments. This year as the starting quarterback and safety for Hurricane Middle School, Kelly led the team to a 7-1 record and an appearance in the championship game. Defensively Kelly tallied 58 tackles, six sacks and two interceptions returned for touchdowns. More impressive is what he did as a quarterback for his team. Though exact stats were not kept, Kelly threw for over an estimated 1,000 yards and also had 380 rushing yards. Kelly noted he was told he broke his middle school passing record this season.
As of this article, Kelly isnât sure where he will be attending high school, noting that Hurricane High School, Saint Albans and South Charleston High School are all still possibilities. Where he ever he ends up, Kelly hopes to pass for over 2,000 yards and make the playoffs as a freshman.
The 8th grade prospect has a busy off-season planned with both football camps and baseball making up the bulk of his time. Kelly is a member of the Richmond Braves-National team and could possibly be a bigger pitching prospect than football prospect when itâs all said and done. In fact, Kellyâs fastball is topping out at around 86 mph in his most recent reading. In terms of football this off-season, Kelly will be attending the National Underclassmen Combine (NUC), Marshal University 7-on-7 and North Carolina Football Camp.
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