Kellen Amos, H-Town’s own, is here to stay. The smooth-operating 6-foot-7, 190 pound senior shooting guard does it all on both ends of the floor.
Coming off an outstanding season for a first-year transfer, averaging 14 points, three rebounds, and an assist, Amos has made an immediate impact for the Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils.
This is no surprise for him, though. Coming from Binghamton University, he has been patiently awaiting his turn to shine. During his sophomore year with the Bears, he had a game where he broke out for 26 points in only 23 minutes of play and produced five other double-digit games that season alone, only playing 23 games.
“I felt like I should’ve been playing way more than I was, but I wasn’t, and you know it sucked at the time,” Amos said. “I feel like it made me look more in-depth into my game, look at things I may not have looked at if I was playing, and make me look at it and be like, let me get better at this so I could play.”
Amos looked elsewhere in search of more playing time and opportunities to prove himself, ultimately landing him in New Britain with the Blue Devils and head coach Patrick Sellers.
“What really led me here was I felt like I was killing in practice, and I went into games that I felt like I killed, and yet I felt like I wasn’t getting my opportunity,” Amos said. “So, I sat down with my family like I needed to look somewhere else.”
Sellers, an alumnus who played for CCSU, was named the head coach of the program in May of 2021 and had been looking to turn the program around. Amos has been a pivotal piece to coach Seller’s plan, starting all 32 games and putting up good numbers in his first season.
“I always felt like if I had the opportunity, I was going to play well, and I know coming in he said he would let me play through my mistakes, and I came in last year with no real expectations,” Amos said. “It’s not like everything was ran through me, so I kind of just had to fit in with the team, and he let me just play my game, and I think it’s only going to get better this year when they know who I am and know how we can help him do more.”
Not satisfied with how his first season went here, he returned to the lab and worked on his game. He’s looking to make an even bigger impact this season. When asked what he worked on in the offseason, he smirked.
“The big thing to basketball is people don’t really know what they want to do, so in every situation, I want to know what to do, and that’s what I tried to sit down and focus on,” Amos said. “Of course, I added little things here and there, but that’s the biggest thing I focused on.”
Coming off a 10-22 season and a heartbreaking loss in the quarterfinals for the Northeast Conference Tournament for the second year, they’re looking to make an impact for the 2023-24 season.
“I’m feeling good; the only thing I’m looking forward to is winning. All the other stuff, all the personal stuff, is going to come. I put in the hours; I put in the work. All that stuff is expected, but the thing I’m looking forward to the most is winning,” Amos said. We got some good pieces coming in, and I think we’re a better team than we were last year. We’re an older team, a more mature team, and I think winning is just the biggest thing.”
Amos credits his hard work and patience with getting him where he is today and wants all the up-and-coming athletes to never give up on themselves or their dreams, no matter the situation they may be in.
“If you work hard, you may not see the benefits next week, next month, next year, or the next five years. But I promise it’s going to come. You just got to keep working because that’s what I did,” Amos said. “I was sitting at Bingham for two years on the bench, not playing. I was in the gym every single day, then I came here, and you start to see things. People haven’t even seen the whole package, and I just keep working through the failures, and it’ll always come back.”
