Basketballer Raijon Kelly, Formerly Of Cretin-Derham Hall, Just Barely Made It Out Of Switzerland
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Raijon Kelly grew up in St Paul and made it as a professional basketball player overseas. He was enjoying another season in Switzerland, until he had to leave.
In 2011, he was the point guard for Cretin-Derham Hall. He had ball skills, and he took his game to the next level.
"It was very fun. Every team is different. (You've got) some good quality teams, lot fast paced, some slow paced," he said.
And then the world changed, and on March 15 he got one of the last flights out of Geneva returning to the United States.
"We were getting ready to come off the plane and they told everybody to sit back down. We had to file paperwork," Kelly said. "They took us from the airport to this different site. Signed more paperwork, (went) through customs again. They didn't give any medical checks or testing for it."
Now he's back in St Paul, happy to be in a comfort zone, unsettled about his basketball future as many try to get paid.
"Some teams that possible could afford it would, some teams figured if we're not playing games we're not going to pay you the rest of the contract. There's been a lot of back and forth going on and a lot of Americans in different countries," Kelly said.
For him, the best life is life on a court, and that is the one he craves.
"It's been great, but it's a little sad to just to just have it abruptly end," he said. "But that's life."
