Kelly commits to Minnesota
Winnipeg corner will suit up for Gophers in 2022
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/06/2021 (1756 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Highly-touted cornerback Rhyland Kelly has found a new college home.
On Sunday, the 6-2, 190-pound Winnipegger announced he had made a verbal commitment to attend the University of Minnesota on a football scholarship beginning in the fall of 2022.
The 17-year-old recently decommitted from Northern Illinois when his off-season stock continued to rise after his Grade 12 season at Clearwater Academy International in Florida.
He was in the Twin Cities on the weekend on an official visit to the school and came away impressed with the Gophers program and head coach P.J. Fleck.
“It felt like home and it just felt right for me,” said Kelly by phone Sunday afternoon from Minneapolis before boarding a flight for Florida where he will return for a post-grad year at Clearwater.
“Obviously, being there over the weekend something clicked and it felt like a place I needed to be, so I committed.”
He will sign a letter of intent during national signing day in December.
Kelly, who played his Grade 11 season at Oak Park High School before moving south, also had offers from Kansas State, Liberty University, Arkansas State, University of Ohio, Purdue, Illinois State, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan and Southeastern Louisiana.
Minnesota’s proximity to Winnipeg, the opportunity to play in the high-profile Big 10 conference and the school’s recent track record with Canadian recruits, including recently graduated corner Benjamin St-Juste, made the choice a slam dunk for Kelly.
St-Juste, a Montreal product who was Washington’s third-round (74th overall) pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, texted with Kelly during the visit.
“I knew about him prior to the visit, obviously (he’s) a bit of an idol for me, a Canadian going up to Minnesota and playing there and at my dream school, too,” said Kelly.
St-Juste was also chosen in the sixth round (52nd overall) of the CFL Draft by the Toronto Argonauts.
After leaving Oak Park, Kelly made the switch from running back to corner and he made the transition seamlessly against a higher level of competition.
mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @sawa14