Andrea Aguilera is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student

After four years of playing basketball at Chandler High, the all-region offensive player of the year hopes to take his basketball career to the collegiate level. 

Carson Kelly, a 5-foot-10 guard who led the 6A division in points per game and assists per game during his senior year, has big expectations for himself.

His dream is to earn a degree while playing college basketball, and to play overseas after that.

According to Chandler coach Jon Rother, Kelly’s drive and demeanor make him special. 

His confidence and unselfishness made him an invaluable leader for the Wolves during his four years at Chandler.

“He was by far the most valuable person on the floor in every single game that we played,” Rother said. “We struggled without him.”

“When he’s playing or practicing, there’s never a doubt that he’s not going as hard as he can,” Rother said.

During his senior year, Kelly led the team to the playoffs. 

“His senior year, he was the leader on the team, he was the coach on the floor,” Rother said.

Kelly’s stats speak for himself. Averaging 22.7 points per game, and 6.2 assists per game, he was awarded big shot maker and all-region offensive player of the year honors.

Kelly is described as an unselfish team player by those who surround him, but for him, there is only one thought on his mind when playing: to win. 

“I'm the type of player that is just a win player and can bring a winning mindset to the team,” Kelly said. “I play my heart out every time and give everything I have out there.” 

“He never questions his motive, which is always to win and that’s why he’s a winner,” Rother said. 

According to Rother, players from other schools transferred to Chandler because they wanted to play alongside Kelly.

“I take it as a compliment that players wanted to play with me because they know I'm not selfish, they know it's not all about me over at Chandler,” Kelly said.

Kelly’s mother, Linda, said she is very proud of not only his physical accomplishments, but also of the player he is as a teammate.

“He brings calm to the court and he's been a leader since he was a freshman, but as he grew, he grew as a teammate,” Linda Kelly said. “He’s a very unselfish player.”

“His composure under pressure and ability to know what he needed to do and get it done, amazed me,” she said. “They would always call him in for the last-minute shot, or the winning free throw, because that’s what he was really good at.” 

Kelly was the lead scorer for Chandler during his sophomore, junior and senior years. But things didn’t come easy. He had to work hard to establish himself as a leader. 

He was initially on the junior varsity team his freshman year, but halfway through the season he joined the varsity team and started a few games. He quickly proved to be varsity-worthy and by his sophomore year he became a starter on the team, along with four seniors.

He credits his success to the confidence given by his coach and older teammates.

“It really started with the seniors and the juniors when I was a freshman, helping me, giving me confidence, telling me to take the shot and be more aggressive,” Kelly said. “It was my teammates that helped me mentally.”

“Coach Rother played a big role. We grew together,” Kelly said. “The confidence he’s given me throughout the whole four years. That just gave me huge confidence, just knowing that he trusted me out there with the juniors and seniors.”

But Kelly is more than special for Chandler High. He is only the sixth player in the school’s 109-year history to score more than 1,000 points, finishing with 1,269.

“Being on that list was special for me because one of the players on that list was one of my assistant coaches,” Kelly said. “Just seeing him and the history of the whole school, it meant a lot.”

Kelly attributes his love for basketball to his dad, who was a coach at Chandler High, and his brother who also played the sport. He said he was always with his dad’s team and going to practices. 

Rother says Kelly’s parents played a huge role in his success. 

“They were always supportive of me, of Carson, but most importantly, they were always supportive of other people on the team,” Rother said. “They were unbelievable.”

His mother credits his success to his love for the game.

“You can look at someone and tell that they’re out there because they love it. They’re having fun and enjoy it,” Linda Kelly said.

Kelly said finishing his high school basketball career at Chandler was very important for him.

When there was uncertainty about a season happening for Chandler due to the pandemic, other players switched schools to get the opportunity to play. Kelly didn’t.

“He knew he wanted to finish off where he started. He felt that loyalty to his teammates,” Linda Kelly said.

“Being from the Chandler community and being able to play for Chandler was really important to me,” Kelly said.