SE: Neelly Looks to Repeat Postseason Peak for K-State Track and Field
May 25, 2017 | Track & Field, Sports Extra
Brett Neelly can remember the exact day he realized he was talented enough for Division I athletics. It was July 1, 2014, the first day college track and field coaches were allowed to call him. His cell phone activity increased dramatically.
"It was phone calls, voicemails that whole week," Neelly said, a product of Gallatin High School in Tennessee, where he won three state titles in the discus and two runner-up medals in the shot put. "That's when everything started to become real of, 'Hey, this is actually happening.'"
One of the first phone calls came from Greg Watson, K-State's assistant track and field coach in charge of the throwers. Neelly answered this call. It did not take long for him to understand why K-State would be the place for him.
Neelly wanted to work with a world-class coach. Watson's coaching pedigree, which already includes 11 All-Americans and an Olympian in four years at K-State, spoke volumes.
He also wanted to attend a university with a prestigious mechanical engineering program. K-State checked off that box as well.
Even more, Neelly has relatives who live all over Kansas, a comforting factor.
"It was a great fit. Watson is a great coach," Neelly said. "I don't think I could see myself going anywhere else."
There was one hurdle to clear before getting Neelly to K-State, however, the sophomore now jokes. His father, Kurt Neelly, a physical therapist, graduated from the University of Kansas School of Medicine and raised his three sons to cheer on the Jayhawks.
"That's just how it was. I always watched basketball games. I think one of my first comments to (Watson) was, 'Coach, my family is KU, so if I get recruited you might need to talk to my parents to make sure this is OK first,'" said Neelly, whose father did not need any convincing. "He just wanted to see me go where I could become the best I could be."
Neelly's decision to come to K-State has only been confirmed by the progress he's made in his first two seasons.
He capped his freshman season with a monster throw of 19.16m/62-10.50 at the NCAA Championship. The throw shattered his previous best mark, placed him eighth for First Team All-America honors and made him the first Wildcat to score in the shot put on the men's side since 1985.
This season, Neelly has continued to etch his name into K-State's record books. He won the Big 12 title in the shot put on May 13, the Wildcats' first conference shot put title since 1985.
His winning throw of 18.81m/61-08.50 was his first of the competition. It was also one of five throws farther than 18 meters, which Neelly described as "the best series" of his career.
"It's still unreal," Neelly said. "This is the start of the season where everything starts peaking. All of your weights start bumping up to big numbers in the weight room, practices get shorter, simpler and you're hitting big throws, hitting good marks."
Watson constructs his training program to bring out his athletes' farthest marks at the end of the season. It worked for Neelly last season at the NCAA Outdoor Championship in Eugene, Oregon, where he recorded the sixth-best throw in program history. He expects it to work again.
"We're on the up-rise," Neelly said. "That's what he's designed us to do and that's just how his strategy works."
To return to nationals and follow up last year's performance, which exceeded his own expectations in front of ESPN cameras, Neelly will need a top-12 finish in this week's NCAA West Preliminary in Austin, Texas. He enters the meet with the 14th-best throw in the region and a mindset not to take last year for granted.
"You have to work harder than you did last year to make it to where you were. Some people make it one year and don't go back the next year," he said. "You just have to keep working hard. You can't let the success go to your head. You have to stay humble."
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