Kelley couple to enter WBCA Hall of Fame
And they lived happily ever after. That could be the title of the Mike Kelley and Kelly Auger story, a tale of high school sweethearts who survive college together and then marry and have a family. It’s storybook and true for the Pius XI graduates who just happen to be two of the best basketball players the school ever produced.
You might as well call them a historic pair now.
The Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association has been inducting former coaches and players into its hall of fame for decades. It is home to former teammates. Fathers and sons. Siblings.
Saturday in Wisconsin Dells, Mike and Kelly Kelley will become what the first husband and wife to be inducted into the hall and one of the few couples enshrined in any capacity.
“There have been husbands and wives before like my wife, Joan, went in as a friend (of basketball) and I was a coach,” WBCA executive director Jerry Petitgoue said. “This is the first time as far as I can recollect for a hall of fame player-player . ... And in the same year? That’s pretty amazing to be honest with you.”
This dual induction wasn’t contrived. The WBCA has separate committees for the boys and girls. When each group announced the names of its inductees,
many in the room still didn’t know the connection between the two other than being schoolmates.
The Kelleys will are part of a hall of fame class that features a number of area connections. Milwaukee Public School products Howard Fuller (Milwaukee North), Terry Porter (Milwaukee South), Jerica Watson (Milwaukee Washington) and Mike Wilks (Milwaukee King) will be enshrined. The class also includes former Racine St. Catherine’s and Marquette standout Jim McIllvane, former New Berlin Eisenhower coach Dave Scheidegger and Racine Lutheran coach Jeff Christensen.
When it comes to Pius XI, Kelly joins Heidi (Bunek) Hamilton, Brenda Brunner and Jenny Kraft as girls players inducted. Coach Joe Buneta and standout player Joe Chrnelich are the inductees on the boys side.
“To be honest, it’s crazy,” Kelly said. “I never thought I’d be inducted and to be inducted with him is just awesome. It was a very good surprise.”
The two have been married 16 years and have four kids: Sons Mike 14 and twins Sean and Ty (13) and daughter Shae (12).
Their playing days long gone, they’ve fallen into the routine of every day life. Mike is the co-owner of Rolair Systems, a company that manufacturers compressors, with his father, Tim. Kelly, a nurse by trade, is a stay-athome mom.
In their day, however, they were stars of the show.
Mike, a 6-foot- 3 guard who went on to be a standout at the University of Wisconsin, averaged 15.8 points, 5.7 assists and 4.3 steals per game as a senior, leading the Popes to a 24-2 record and the semifinals of the Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association state tournament.
A year earlier, the 1996-’97 season, he helped the Popes win their last state title, getting five steals to help set the tone in a blowout win over Appleton Xavier.
What stands out to Mike, however, was the 20-point comeback win over Marquette that Pius had in the semifinals.
“We were in the locker room at halftime down a bunch. It was an emotional locker room. There were guys crying. Coach (Gary) Pieske, he had this great speech about coming together and leaving it all out on the floor. He got emotional and then we went out and got on a run and made this great comeback. That’s what I remember the most about it.”
Mike’s championship season was the only year Kelly didn’t help the Popes win state. Her final two years, however, she was a first-team all-state pick in addition to a state champion.
Kelly, a 5-9 guard, averaged 18.3 points, 5.8 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game as a junior. Senior year she made a miraculous comeback from an ACL tear suffered in the summer and averaged 14.5 points, 7.3 assists and 4.4 steals per game to lead a Popes team that finished 23-1 and was ranked seventh in the nation by USA Today at the end of its season.
By the time Kelly wrapped up her senior year, she and Mike had been a couple for about a year and a half. The two had always known of each other but didn’t get to know each other until meeting a mutual friend at a cross country meet.
Mike was a senior. Kelly was a junior. The two quickly became a couple.
“They say love at first sight, but it was truly,” she said. “We started dating then and were pretty much inseparable thereafter.”
Kelly earned a scholarship to Marquette, but not enjoying the game as she did in high school, left the program and transferred to Wisconsin where the two continued to share life’s ups and downs together.