UNLV guard brings hard-earned savvy

Born and raised in gritty Compton, Calif., Kelli Thompson learned basketball the hard way long before her arrival at UNLV last year.

"Some of my best friends were in gangs, so if I'd go to the park and play basketball and a call would go the wrong way, it gets a little dangerous," said Thompson, a 6-foot sophomore guard who leads the Lady Rebels with 15.3 points per game.

"I was never in too much danger where it (could) cost me my life, but I've seen a few things most kids don't want to see growing up," she said.

The first member of her large, extended family to attend college, Thompson credits her close-knit clan for keeping her on the right track.

"Without my family, I wouldn't be here," she said. "They kept my head on straight and focused on basketball."

One of the leading 3-point shooters in the Mountain West Conference, Thompson honed her skills playing pickup ball with eventual NBA players Brandon Jennings, DeMar DeRozan and Arron Afflalo, who starred alongside Thompson's older brother Tyre at Compton's Centennial High School.

"They wanted me to be tough, so they treated me like one of the guys," said Thompson, the only girl allowed to play with the group. "They didn't call fouls. If I got hit, they didn't care."

The hard-core hoops lessons paid off for Thompson, who attended national sports power Long Beach Poly High School, where she became the first California prep player -- boy or girl -- to play for four state basketball champions in a row.

Bad grades cost her brother -- a highly ranked recruit -- a college scholarship, and Thompson was determined not to make the same mistake.

"That hit me hard, because my brother had all the talent in the world," she said. "I wanted to prove to everybody you can make it.

"For me to get out (of Compton), it's a blessing."

Recruited by several Division I schools, Thompson chose UNLV over Louisville and UCLA after former Lady Bruins coach Kathy Olivier was hired to coach the Lady Rebels.

"She's a leader and she does so many things well," Olivier said. "She's from a very successful winning program, and we need to bring a championship mentality here."

The only UNLV player averaging at least 10 points, Thompson wears No. 45 in honor of her aunt who died of leukemia at age 45.

"When I lost her, it was really tough," she said. "She was my biggest fan, so when I got here, I thought I'd let me and her live on together by wearing No. 45."

Thompson, who averaged 12.3 points as a freshman, scored a season-high 22 for the Lady Rebels in Sunday's 78-66 loss at No. 12 North Carolina.

She'll lead UNLV (5-3) against South Florida (7-4) at 3 p.m. today in the BTI Classic at the Thomas & Mack Center. The Lady Rebels will play Texas at 7:30 p.m. Sunday and Southern Methodist at 7:30 p.m. Monday.

Thompson also leads UNLV in 3-point percentage (34.5, 20-for-58), is tied for the team lead in steals (11) and is shooting 80 percent (28 of 35) from the free-throw line after sinking her first 16 attempts of the season.

But Olivier said Thompson is capable of much more.

"She's good, but we want her to be great," she said. "We're going to continue to push her."

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@
reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354.