Destroyers All Time Leading Scorer to Attend Covenant Prep Academy in Belmar
DUNELLEN, NJ—After putting together an outstanding four year career that not only made him the all time leading scorer at Dunellen High School, but also saw him help guide the Destroyers from a team that was 4-21 the year before he arrived to a 25-5 season, and the team’s first sectional final berth since 1968, Tyje’ Kelton has decided on the next step in his academic and athletic life.
GMC Hoops learned earlier this week that Kelton has decided to attend Covenant Prep Academy in Belmar to play a year of postgraduate ball. The Dunellen senior swingman, who became the school’s all time leading scorer as a junior during the 2018-19 season, played in 106 career games in his four years of varsity action, made 605 field goals, 125 three pointers, and 357 free throws for a grand total of 1,942 points for an average of 18.3 points per game according to stats compiled at NJ.com.
Despite falling short of his goal of scoring 2,000 points in his career, Kelton, who played AAU basketball with the Plainfield based MSU Skyliners, still managed to end up third on the GMC Hoops Grand Club scoring list just four points shy of Vince Rosario of Cardinal McCarrick (1,946 points). South River’s Derrick Whitaker (now playing at FDU-Florham) surpassed Rosario last year when he became the first player in the GMC Hoops era to score over 2,000 points with 2,105 for his career.
In addition to scoring nearly 2,000 points in his career, Kelton pulled down 1,019 rebounds, 394 assists, 309 steals, and 93 blocks, or an average of 9.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.9 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game. This past season, Kelton connected on 188 field goals, 29 threes, and 110 foul shots for a total of 573 points (the most in a single season for him), which averaged out to around 19.8 points per game. He also collected 237 boards, 99 assists, 65 steals, and 26 blocks, or an average of 8.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 steals, and just under a block per game.
During the course of his four years at Dunellen, Kelton scored in double figures 97 times, or in 91.5 percent of the games he played. Of those 97 times, Kelton scored at least 20 points or more on 43 occasions, 30 points or more seven times, and 40 points once as a sophomore. He collected a double-double in 59 of the games he played (about 56 percent) in including 23 times as a sophomore, and compiled a triple double on two occasions: once as a sophomore and once as a junior.
Kelton’s career high of 40 points occurred in a 90-49 victory over Gold Division rival, South Amboy on January 16, 2018 at The Faber in Dunellen. In that game, Kelton, who was a sophomore at the time, clicked on 11 field goals and 6 threes while also grabbing 13 rebounds, and dishing out 10 assists, swiping 5 steals, and blocking a shot in his first ever triple-double. He had a career high 18 rebounds twice as a sophomore on January 22, 2018 versus Middlesex (lost 62-56), and February 2, 2018 at South Amboy (won 59-49).
He also had a career high 10 assists in that 90-49 victory over South Amboy his sophomore year, and a career high 10 steals in a 77-49 victory over Perth Amboy Tech at the Faber in Dunellen as a junior. Both of those games were his only two triple doubles of his career. Highly touted as a freshman, Kelton had the ability to be special according to the Dunellen coaching staff even before that first varsity season began. Kelton did live up to that promise and made the Destroyers a contender and champion again in the process.
Over the course of his tenure at Dunellen, the Destroyers improved from 8-17 in 2016-17 to 14-12 in 2017-18 to 20-7 a year ago to 25-5 this season. The Destroyers were 67-41 overall during that span including a 45-15 mark in the GMC Gold with two division titles, and the school’s first GMCT Elite Eight appearance since the 1992-93 season. Dunellen also had back to back 20 win seasons in Kelton’s junior and senior years, and the school’s third North Jersey Section 2 Group 1 Final Four appearance and first sectional final berth since moving into N2 Group 1 in 2006.
Kelton will now be joining a program that is coached by Ian Turnbull, who had coached the CJEOTO AAU team with the likes of former South Brunswick and Middlesex County College standout, Arman Wilson, and coached Franklin’s varsity team during the off-season at times. Turnbull then made CJEOTO a post-graduate program out of Somerset before eventually making it the Covenant Prep program that it is today. Former GMC players that have played at Covenant Academy include: Xavier Townes (now at Rutgers-Newark), Rachid Schimou (played at both Goldey Beacom and Felician), Elijah Mitchell (now at Monroe CC), and Taj Dixon (County College of Morris).
Congratulations Tyje’, and best of luck in your future endeavors.