In 36 years of coaching, including nine at Pearl River Community College, Ed Walley admits that Audosha Kelley was "the best player who ever played for me. Period."

Kelley, a 5-foot-8 sophomore guard from Savannah, Ga., was instrumental in the Lady Wildcats winning the Region XXlll championship in 2003 and earning a birth in the NJCAA National fournamem in Salina, Kan.

She was named first team All-MACJC and Region XXIII for the second straight season, while also copping back-to-back All-Region XXIII Tournament honors and a spot on the prestigious All-NJCAA Tournament team in Kansas. She was the team's leading scorer for the second consecutive season, averaging 25.3 points, while hauling in an average of 9.4 rebounds per game.

"My first season (2001-02) we had a lot of freshmen players," Kelley said. "We all had a tough time getting acclimated to being away from home that year.

"I was 10 hours from my hometown, but we all fell in love playing for Coach Walley. Experience was a big plus for us that second year."

PRCC's omen finished the season at 24-8 overall after falling to Tyler (Texas) in the national tournament. The Lady Wildcats defeated Southwest 75-66 for the region title, one day after knocking off defending regional champion Copiah-Lincoln 81-70.

"Wow, this is awesome," Kelley said of her induction into the PRCC Sports Hall of Fame. "I just got inducted into my high school's sports Hall of Fame. This is a great achievement, but it was never one of my goals."

Kelley originally signed with Middle Tennessee after leading her high school team to the state title in Georgia. But she failed to qualify. Walley got wind of her and brought her to PRCC for a visit.

"We flew her to Gulfport, she took her GED and passed it," Walley said. "That first semester here she made the president' s list." She also averaged 21.4 points and l0 rebounds a game."

Said Kelley, "That first year was tough for me, especially the fast two weeks. Just trying to meet new people was difficult. On the weekend, everybody would go home and I would be in the dorm by myself. Overall, I enjoyed the school, bul not having a lot of activities to do in the town was the worst thing.

"My time at Pearl River taught me a lot about how to deal with people and learning social skills."

Her second season, Kelley became the go-to person for the Wildcats. Walley said his star could have averaged more points than she did.

"Audosha was the kind who did not want to stand out above eve rybody else," said Walley. "I used to tell her we have got to have you put more points on the board for us to be successful. She was so unse l fish."

Kelley went on to play two seasons for Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia, where she earned a criminal justice degree.