Western Michigan men’s basketball head coach Steve Hawkins has announced the hiring of Thomas Kelley as an assistant coach on Monday.

Kelley has spent the last two seasons as a graduate manager for the Michigan State men’s basketball program under head coach Tom Izzo.

“This is a dream come true in a sense with the location of the school and my dream of always being a Division I assistant coach,” said Kelley. “Being a Grand Rapids kid and close to home, this is the perfect spot for me and I am happy to be here.”

Kelley, a native of Grand Rapids, Mich., played at Michigan State from 1995-99 and was a part of Izzo’s first Final Four team as a fifth-year senior in 1998-99. Kelley played in 115 games for the Spartans, averaging 5.3 points and 2.0 assists per game.

After his collegiate career, Kelley played 15 seasons overseas in Amsterdam, Israel, Turkey, Austria, Hungary and Finland.

“I was getting my stuff out at Michigan State when Coach Hawkins called me and told me I was getting the job. I went back to Coach Izzo’s office and he let out a big scream, so it was just a cool moment,” said Kelley.

The Broncos will hit the court for the first of two exhibition contests on Saturday, Oct. 27 at 2:00 p.m. inside University Arena against Northwood University. WMU squares off with Kalamazoo College on Saturday, Nov.3 before kicking off the 2018 campaign on Tuesday, Nov. 6 against Detroit Mercy.

https://wmubroncos.com/news/2018/9/10/thomas-kelley-named-mens-basketball-assistant-coach.aspx