Lost one to Princeton

[Captain Kangaroo]

Kelly opts for Ivy LeagueBy Kevin GormanTRIBUNE-REVIEWThursday, January 19, 2006Cart Kelly dreamed of playing major-college football, but the Baldwin cornerback was ready to accept that his future involved the Mid-American Conference.Then the Ivy League came calling.Kelly elected to put academics first and found a perfect fit during a visit to Princeton. He made a verbal commitment to the Tigers over Division I scholarship offers from Akron, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Can't State, Miami (Ohio), New Mexico State, Temple and Toledo."It was a tough decision, but the visit really helped a lot," Kelly said. "I went up there with the stereotype that Princeton was strictly geared toward academics and that I wouldn't fit in. I went up there and did a 180-degree turn. "At first, I was thinking, 'I'm going to the MAC.' But once I got onto the Princeton campus, I fell in love with it."With his decision, Kelly becomes a rarity in college football recruiting: He chose the non-scholarship, Division I-AA Ivy League, which grants need-based financial aid, over a full scholarship offer to a Division I-A program.But Kelly isn't your typical high school football star. He has a 4.1 grade-point average and scored 1,290 on the SAT. He has been asked to speak at a youth football banquet next week about putting academics ahead of athletics.The 6-foot, 180-pound Kelly made a name for himself by running the 20-yard pro shuttle in a Nike Training Camp-best 3.81 seconds last spring and recording a 4.4-second 40-yard dash at Joe Butler's Metro Index camp.Kelly had 34 catches for 601 yards and five touchdowns at receiver and three interceptions at cornerback. He was selected first-team All-Quad East and was named to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's All-WPIAL Class AAAA team as a senior.Baldwin teammates Justin Hargrove and Jason Pinkston are Pitt recruits, but Kelly explored other options when Pitt, Penn State and West Virginia didn't extend scholarship offers."That's every kid's dream," Kelly said. "They want to say, 'I played scholarship football.' I want to have a successful life. I realized that even if I make it to the NFL, you still have the rest of your life to work and make a living."By choosing to go to Princeton, the doors I've opened up for myself are endless. I'm proud that I managed to get into the No. 1 undergraduate school in the world."