2025 College Draft Prospect Profile: Mic Kelly
By Zach Carey | Apr 17, 2025
Mic Kelly has the potential to be the steal of the 2025 College Draft. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Denver Pioneers midfielder is climbing draft boards ahead of May 6 and could realistically sneak up as high as eighth overall on draft night.
Kelly has scored 90 points in his three seasons as an offensive midfielder in college, tallying 35 points (27G, 8A) through the first 12 games of his senior season. The big righty is a prototypical professional midfielder who can win matchups with size or speed, can shoot the crap out of the ball and can dodge from a variety of places on the field.
The Baltimore native and Calvert Hall product played defensive midfield as a freshman at Denver. So, while he won’t be asked to go both ways in the PLL, he won’t be a liability if he gets stuck on the other end.
Kelly’s threat as a step-down shooter should immediately translate to the pro game. Whether it be on a power play or off a teammate’s dodge, Kelly can absolutely rake from the outside, and he’s capable of changing levels from a range of release points.
Plus, while his right hand packs a punch, Kelly is a two-handed player who can split to his left and have the same effect from distance. His combination of size and ambidextrous shooting ability makes him difficult for any short-stick defender to contain.
He’s not just a bruising dodger, though. Kelly can separate with surprising burst that can put unsuspecting defenders a step behind and open up a lane to the cage.
Kelly is deadly when sweeping across the middle of the field. Like he can down the alley, he gets immediate separation with his first few steps before utilizing his horizontal momentum to turn his hips and generate crazy torque to send the ball careening to a top corner from a sidearm release.
For his size, Kelly is also surprisingly nimble at playing angles. He can score dodging down the alley and across the middle like a traditional midfielder. But he also has the footwork to utilize his size and shot while working closer to the net, such as on the wing.
Watch below how, after driving down the alley with his left hand, Kelly steps away and shows like he’s going to feed the crease. He’d already generated separation from his defender. So, by stepping back and faking the pass, he freezes the sliding defender enough to switch hands to improve his angle and score.
Kelly tends to dodge to score; that’s when he’s at his best. He isn’t uncomfortable as a passer, though, and can occasionally hit a sweet cross-field feed. When working at the top of the offense and repeatedly re-dodging to find space, he keeps his head up relatively consistently and can punish defenses that slide too quickly.
Kelly is a must-pole at the college level and projects to win matchups versus short sticks at the next level. That plus the fact he’s a defense-stretching threat off-ball makes him a high-floor professional prospect who has a complete enough game to become a perennial All-Star in the right environment.
Mic Kelly’s Player Comparison: Jack Hannah
Kelly plays a similar brand of lacrosse to former Pioneers midfielder Jack Hannah with the build, the dodging repertoire and the shot to match the Philadelphia Waterdogs stud. Both love to shoot off their hips on the run. There are also elements of Matt Campbell’s game evident in Kelly’s, as both thrive on re-dodges after their first move is stumped.
Carey’s projected draft pick: No. 9 to the Philadelphia Waterdogs
Given the Hannah comparison and Kelly being another Pioneer who played for Philadelphia head coach and general manager Bill Tierney, the Waterdogs taking Kelly with the first pick of the second round would make a lot of sense. The Utah Archers could also take Kelly at eighth overall, as they’re likely to target a right-handed midfielder. Or, Kelly could fall a bit further, perhaps to the California Redwoods at No. 10 or the Carolina Chaos at No. 13.
