Michigan State University Athletics
Former Spartan Greats Gregory Kelser and Kathy DeBoer Honored at Academic Gala
Former Spartan Greats Gregory Kelser and Kathy DeBoer Honored at Academic Gala
Academic and athletic standouts receive scholar-athlete alumni awards.
April 30, 1999
East Lansing, MI - Former Michigan State student-athletes Gregory Kelser and Kathy DeBoer received Scholar-Athlete Alumni Awards at the annual Michigan State University Academic Excellence Gala on Sunday, April 18 at the Kellogg Center. The awards are presented annually to a former male and female student-athlete for outstanding achievements following graduation.
Kelser graduated from Michigan State in 1981 with a degree in criminal justice. Following a six-year professional basketball career, he began a successful career in sports broadcasting and has since been a color analyst for basketball games on the professional and collegiate level. Kelser has broadcast games for the Detroit Pistons, Michigan State, ESPN, Raycom and Creative Sports. He also serves as host of the Tom Izzo Show.
An Academic All-American at Michigan State, he co-captained the Spartans' 1979 National Championship team. Kelser, who played in 115 games as a Spartan, closed out his career as MSU's all-time leading scorer with 2,014 points (now stands fourth) and rebounder with 1,092 boards. He earned Third-Team All-America recognition and First-Team All-Big Ten honors in 1979 after averaging a team leading 18.8 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.
A 1980 recipient of the NCAA Top 10 Award for scholastic and athletic achievement, he was a first-round draft choice of the Detroit Pistons. A 1996 MSU Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, Kelser served as MSU's commencement speaker in the spring of 1998.
DeBoer is in her 14th year at the University of Kentucky where she has been an Associate Athletic Director since 1983. Prior to her promotion, DeBoer was the Assistant Athletics Director for UK's non-revenue sports and women's volleyball coach.
In her nine seasons with the Wildcat volleyball team, DeBoer led her Wildcats to an impressive 212-96 record, including three SEC titles, two SEC Tournament championships and the 1991 National Invitational Volleyball Tournament Championship.
The 1987 National Coach of the Year, DeBoer guided Kentucky to the NCAA Final Eight in 1987 and the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1988, 1990 and 1992.
DeBoer played volleyball at MSU from 1975-77 and lettered in basketball during the 1977 and 1978 seasons. She was part of two Big Ten Championship volleyball teams in 1975 and '76 and was team MVP in '76.
In her first season with the basketball team, she averaged 12.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and was a finalist for the Wade Trophy, presented annually to the top player in the country. In her second season, she was team MVP and co-captain.
Following graduation, she played professional basketball with the Minnesota Fillies for two seasons. She began her collegiate coaching career in 1980 at Ferris State, where her volleyball teams compiled a record of 107-64 and won two Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships. During her tenure with the Bulldogs, DeBoer won three consecutive GLIAC Coach of the Year honors, as well as being named to coach at the National Sports Festival in 1982 and 1983.
The Grand Rapids native received her bachelor's degree in humanities from MSU in 1978 and a master's degree in business administration from Kentucky in 1988.