Nicci Kelly joined the ETSU women's basketball coaching staff in Aug. 2013 after spending the 2012-13 season as an assistant girls’ varsity basketball coach at her alma mater Choctawhatchee High School in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. During her tenure with the Indians, the team went 31-1 overall including an undefeated regular season and a Florida 6A state runner-up finish.

Prior to coaching at Choctawhatchee, Kelly played one year of professional basketball in Yongin, South Korea for the Samsung Bichimi of the Women’s Korean Basketball League (WKBL) from 2011-12.

As a student-athlete, the Shalimar, Fla. native played two seasons at Louisiana State University (LSU) (2008-10) under Hall of Fame head coach Van Chancellor after playing two seasons at Northwest Florida State College (NFSC) (2006-08) under head coach Brittney Ezell.

At NFSC, Kelly rose to team co-captain and also earned All-Panhandle Conference honors and was a member of the all-conference honor roll.

As an LSU Tiger, the senior gained co-captain honors and claimed the Sue Gunter Courage award, the Kisha James Outstanding Teammate honor and the Cornelia Gayden Outstanding Attitude award after her final season was cut short due to a foot injury prior to the season. Kelly, additionally, was selected to the 2010 SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll.

In her junior season, the transfer played in 30 games and shot over 40 percent from both the field and from the three-point line. Her 40.5 percent clip from downtown led the Lady Tigers and is good or the eighth highest in single-season school history.

Kelly earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from LSU in 2011 and is currently working toward a graduate degree in Communication at ETSU.