Brit Kelly, a two-time First Team All-Pacific Coast Conference selection, has committed to play basketball for Shaw University. While at Imperial Valley (CA) College, Kelly averaged 12 points and four assists per game and led his team to back-to-back conference championships.

Shaw University's Men's Basketball Coach Cleo Hill, Jr., says Kelly brings more to the team than simply basketball skills. "Brit has a strong jump shot and an outstanding court sense. But even more, he has a desire to win and knows the type of hard work it takes to build a winning program."

Kelly says it was more than basketball that drew him to Shaw. "I wanted to be part of an HBCU, and I grew up with the CIAA. It's important for me to be in that environment. Shaw's history and Baptist background drew me, too. I wanted that atmosphere."

After finishing a standout career at Alexandria, Virginia's Hayfield Secondary School, Kelly headed to Imperial Valley, and a program that hadn't won a championship since 1986. Under Coach Tyson Aye, Kelly and his teammates won two championships, and he was selected to the First-Team All-Conference squad both years.

After verbally committing to Mississippi Valley State, Kelly took time off in order to play a bigger role in the birth of his daughter. Kelly now intends to major in education, with a long-term goal of being a high school history teacher.

The Shaw University's men's basketball team finished the 2008-09 season 12-16 overall, 8-10 in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) in Hill's first year as a head coach. The Bears open the 2009-10 campaign hosting Virginia Union on November 16, 2009 at Shaw's C.C. Spaulding Gymnasium.