Travis Kelce almost played basketball at West Virginia. How his dad prevented it
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Travis Kelce nearly committed to WVU for basketball after a strong visit.
- WVU staff treated Kelce like family and viewed him as a key recruit.
- Father Ed Kelce urged Travis to be a man of his word, influencing his choice.
There are so many “what ifs” that could have altered Travis Kelce’s rise as one of the best tight ends of all-time.
An elite athlete, the Kansas City Chiefs star played several different sports in addition to football; basketball was one of his next loves.
In a story he shared on his New Heights podcast Wednesday, Kelce made college-recruiting visits for basketball before choosing football. He was curious about a possible future in hoops — a pathway that could’ve led him to playing for Hall of Fame coach Bob Huggins at West Virginia.
In a conversation with his brother Jason and new University of Cincinnati men’s basketball coach Jerrod Calhoun, Kelce explained how he nearly committed to WVU after his visit to Morgantown, West Virginia. Calhoun was an assistant under Huggins there from 2007-12 and was Kelce’s point of contact at the time.
“You guys treat me like family. Like I had never been treated before,” Kelce said. “I was Jason’s little brother and Cincinnati didn’t even give me this much attention.”
Jason Kelce had a hearty laugh at that statement. But Kelce was seen as a key recruit by the Mountaineers coaching staff.
“Trav, I’ll be honest man, you could hoop ... you were a beast,” Calhoun said.
Kelce heavily considered the Mountaineers because of how Huggins ran his program.
“Just the camaraderie that you saw on the floor and how everybody on the bench was involved in the game,” said.
Ed Kelce, Travis’ father, made his son truly think about his decision after hearing Travis ponder taking a basketball scholarship over football.
“He looked at me and said, ‘You are a man of your word. You wanna be like these kids that commit to a university and de-commit and now the integrity of your word doesn’t mean anything?’” Kelce said.
It’s been nearly two decades since Kelce entered college in 2008. The NCAA transfer portal and NIL have created a world in which college players have virtual free will when choosing which school to play for.
“I look around at everybody nowadays in college. I’m just like ‘What was I doing?!’” Kelce said.
“You guys (the Kelces) would’ve made a lot of money, I tell you that,” Calhoun said that got both brothers laughing.
