Seton Hill basketball player Weeks spends days teaching

It’s game day at Seton Hill.

Kelly Weeks, awake since 5:15 a.m., already has taught five full periods at Hempfield Area High School when lunchtime rolls around.

She puts down her sandwich long enough to watch some game film and catch up on her own studies.

At 2:45 p.m., school lets out and she is on her way back to campus.

By 4, she’s getting taped in the trainer’s room at the McKenna Center and by 4:45, she’s on the court to join warmups for a 5:30 tip.

This is not your usual day for a college student. But it is perfectly normal for Weeks, a grad student and fifth-year basketball player for the Griffins.

A full-time teacher by day and a D-2 hooper by night. That is how she rolls.

How many weeks are there in a school year? In this case, just one. Many roles, one Weeks. Somehow, she makes it work.

“The only way I know is to be prepared,” she said. “I am a really big planner. I like to stay busy and build around my schedule. I don’t want to put all my eggs in one basket.”

Weeks, a 6-foot-1 reserve forward who hails from Webster, N.Y., teaches social studies and history for grades 10-12 as a long-time substitute.

“How unique is that?” Seton Hill coach Mark Katarski said. “She has a full-time job, and she’s teaching, and she’s playing college basketball. I know I don’t get up at 5:15 in the morning.”

Weeks earned her bachelor’s degree in history and student-taught at Hempfield during the fall before her promotion.

She is taking nine credits this semester as she pursue’s a master’s degree in innovative instruction, a relatively new degree that has accelerated with the covid pandemic.

It essentially is online learning, a concept that has become ingrained in schools across the world.

“My coaches and teammates have been a really supportive,” she said. “I believe in our program. The girls are my absolute best friends. I think I would have been missing out if I didn’t come back (for another year). I feel like my voice is valued every day.”

And Katarski hears her voice loud and clear. Weeks is a calming influence on an already laid-back team.

“She’s one of the best people and teammates I have ever been around,” Griffins coach Mark Katarski said. “She doesn’t have all the accolades on the court. Her presence alone … She has the ability to connect with people in different ways. She is passionate in the moment.”

Weeks averages 7.4 minutes off the bench for the Griffins (15-4, 9-1), who took a nine-game winning streak into Monday’s home game against Edinboro. Seton Hill was leading the PSAC West and began the week ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region.

Weeks had played in all 19 games — 96 for her career. A standout at Webster Thomas High School, she scored 10 points this year in a win over Pitt-Greensburg in the local “City Game.”

“Remember, she is four years older than some of these girls,” Katarski said. “They look up to her. She leads by example.”

Weeks said she has told her students that she also plays Division II basketball, and she even has some Hempfield players in class, some of whom played with Seton Hill freshman guard Maria Brush.

“They don’t really realize I have a life,” Weeks said.

So, is she known as Miss Weeks around the Hill?

“Only when my teammates tease me,” she said with a laugh. “I love what I am doing. I feel truly fulfilled.”