A Rising Star

A phenomenal former Texas A&M player with an infectious spirit and inspiring inner drive returns to Aggieland on opening weekend as one of the rising stars in the collegiate softball coaching ranks.

When Michigan State faces Texas A&M-Commerce on the opening day, it will be the first game at the helm for Sharonda McDonald-Kelley, who the Spartans hired on June 10, 2022. 

“This is an incredible opportunity,” McDonald-Kelley said. “I mean, if you know much about the Big Ten, you just know there’s a history and a feel and it’s just a cool conference. This place is just so awesome and you feel like you’re part of a big family.

McDonald-Kelley proved her mettle with a successful four-year head coaching stint at Campbell. She went to sleepy Buies Creek, North Carolina, and built a regional power. In 2021, she led the Fighting Camels to their first NCAA Regional appearance since 2009 and earned only Campbell’s second tourney victory in program history with a win against Boston University. McDonald-Kelley led the Camels to a return trip to the NCAA Tournament last season. 

“Campbell was a great place to be,” McDonald-Kelley said. “It’s a great place to have a first head coaching job. It was a situation where they had so much faith in me and what I could do to help the program. When you have that kind of faith, it gives you freedom to be yourself, to do what you think is best and to lead in the way you think is best.”

In her last two years as skipper, Campbell earned the conference double, claiming regular-season and tournament titles in the same season. It marked the first time the Camels won back-to-back league regular-season titles and McDonald-Kelley was responsible for two of the six all-time conference tournament titles.

Her success doesn’t shock her former Texas A&M teammates.

“I’m not surprised by her success,” said ESPN color analyst Amanda Scarborough, a three-year teammate of McDonald-Kelley. “Just knowing how patient she is and how much she loves the game – the game within the game, the mental side, the physical side. She’s somebody who always wants to grow and get better. I think when you have those qualities, you turn out to be a good coach.” 

McDonald-Kelley, Scarborough and their teammates in the mid-2000s were key to getting the Maroon & White on the upswing and back to the College World Series.

A speed merchant who was gifted in the batters box, McDonald-Kelley made an immediate impact as a freshman in 2004. As the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, she batted .337 with 48 runs and 47 stolen bases in her rookie campaign. The Aggies finished 33-22 overall and 13-3 in the Big 12 with their second-place showing being the best since joining the conference.

“Sho (Sharonda) was a gifted player,” former A&M head coach Jo Evans said. “She was the fastest, quickest, most dynamic player I’ve ever coached.”

Scarborough joined the Aggies the following year, and the Maroon & White plowed their way to a 47-10 overall mark, including a 14-4 league ledger, claiming their first Big 12 title. Texas A&M advanced to the super regionals, but had its run hampered by injuries to McDonald-Kelley and Scarborough.

“Sharonda and I got hurt around the same time,” Scarborough said. “That’s hard to recover from in May. She had injured her ACL. I got hit in the head with a ball. We’re talking about major injuries to your starting centerfielder and leadoff hitter and one of your best pitchers and cleanup hitter. We battled and we did the best we could. We made it to Super Regionals and anytime you get that far it’s a pretty remarkable season. But I think that team and season gave us hope and drive for the rest of my time at A&M.”

Despite the late injury, McDonald-Kelley finished the season a remarkable 48-of-48 in stolen bases and hit .360 with 53 runs. She claimed the inaugural Golden Shoe Award bestowed on the best college softball base stealer by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

“I just loved to play softball and I love to run,” McDonald-Kelley said. “I loved to get dirty. I loved to slide. And I love that Coach Evans gave me the green light to just use my instincts and just do what I did.”

Still rebounding from the ACL injury the year prior, McDonald-Kelley’s numbers took a hit her junior year as she batted .271 with 34 runs and 21 stolen bases.

Back at full speed in 2007, she once again helped A&M shred opponents, logging career bests with a .374 batting average and 60 runs while swiping 37 bases as the Maroon & White finished 46-14 and went to the CWS for the first time since 1988.

“As a coach, now I have a better understanding of how special that team was,” McDonald-Kelley said. “Our whole team, we were stacked with competitors who had a will to get it done. It was so special. I mean, obviously we had a really talented group, but the mindset of that team was off the charts. We were on a mission to elevate Texas A&M to where we thought it should be and get our program back to the World Series. Nothing was stopping us.”

During her time in Aggieland, she was a three-time all-region selection, including first-team recognition as a freshman and senior. She was a four-time All-Big 12 choice, including three first-team nods.

“Sho was the consummate team player, loved by her teammates, coaches and the Aggie community.” Evans said. “She exemplifies A&M’s Core Values and in particular the value of Respect. Sho always shows respect to the game, her university, team, opponents and everyone in whom she makes contact. And in return, she is respected by everyone who knows her.”

‘Sharonda McDonald’ still spangles the Aggie softball record book. Her 153 career stolen bases out-distances No. 2 Keeli Milligan by 48. She ranks second in career runs (195) and hits (249). 

Her string of 73 consecutive stolen bases ranks second in NCAA Division I history and stood as the record until topped by Alabama’s Jennifer Fenton in 2012.

“Her speed and instincts were so special,” Scarborough said. “Even in high school, I just remember her being scary to play against because of her speed and how good was. She is still one of the only players who could pull off a second-base squeeze. It was always amazing seeing her take off on the pitch and score on a bunt from second.”

While the Aggies were making another College World Series run, finishing as national runner-up, in 2008, McDonald-Kelley was continuing her playing career with the Philadelphia Force of the National Professional Fastpitch circuit.

Shortly afterward she would begin her winding road to Michigan State. McDonald-Kelley’s coaching career started as a way to earn money between playing seasons with the Force. Her sister Krystal, who played at Texas Southern, mentioned they might have an opening on their staff.

“He (then Texas Southern head coach Tony Barker) was like ‘Come on, I got a part-time spot for $12,000.” McDonald-Kelley said. “I was like, ‘I'll do it, I guess.’ And kind of it's been doing it since then and haven't stopped that softball is one of those sports is just you just fall in love and I've been in love since I was little and just stay a part of it is nothing like.”

From Texas Southern, her career would zig-zag the map with stops as an assistant coach at Ohio University, LSU, Texas Tech, Florida and Ohio State before landing the Campbell job in 2019.

“She’s paid her dues,” Evans said. “Worked for no pay. Worked for very little pay. Whatever she needed to do to learn and grow in the profession. She created opportunities for herself by establishing herself as a selfless person and a player’s coach. It has been my pleasure to be a small part of her journey. Our phone calls weighing pros and cons of a job, her willingness to reach out and seek guidance and then make good, sound decisions for herself and her family is one of her strengths.”

Although it’s not why she coaches, McDonald-Kelley is setting an example as a Black female head coach. In April, when the Spartans battle Illinois skippered by Tyra Perry it will mark the first time two Black head coaches in the same Power 5 conference have squared off on the softball diamond. 

“It means everything,” McDonald-Kelley said. “I think back to my time as a player and growing up and there weren’t a lot of players, there certainly weren’t any coaches that looked like me. Natasha Watley was one of the few players I could look to. It’s taken time, but it’s changing. It’s awesome to be a part of it. I do see more girls of color playing softball now. So I love it and I love to feel like I can represent them.”

Something that once made her apprehensive fills McDonald-Kelley with joy. There is a pride in being someone young that girls in the Black community can look to as an example that softball can be a sport they can succeed in both on the field and in the dugout.

“At first when I got the head job at Campbell it was pointed out to me several times there weren’t many Black women coaching. So it really felt a little weighty because felt like I had to do something with this. I can’t fail. I kind of learned over the four years at Campbell that I just to be me. I just have to do my best and continue to help these young women grow. But I’ve gotten so much support from the Black community and from people reaching out. It almost brings me to tears. It doesn’t feel weighty anymore. It’s a huge honor."

McDonald-Kelley finds herself coming back to her days in Aggieland as she builds cultures for her teams. To this day, the A&M Core Values still shape the Houston native. 

“I definitely fall back on the Core Values,” McDonald-Kelley said. “It’s something you leave with at Texas A&M. My husband says ‘It’s in you.’ Growing up in that atmosphere and really learning a respect for myself, a respect for others and a respect for game never leaves you. I think that is definitely plays a big part in who I am and how I coach.”

Her coaching acumen and success was also shaped by her years of playing for and observing Coach Evans. She explains with a term that has been heard a lot recently in Aggieland: Becoming – also the slogan for this year’s A&M women’s hoops team under the guidance of first-year head coach Joni Taylor.

“I attribute so much of who I am to Coach Evans,” McDonald-Kelley said. “When you’re a college athlete, that time of your is so crucial. You’re really growing up as a young woman and you’re figuring out who you are. I tell our players today it’s okay if you don’t know who you are. You’re becoming. You’re becoming what you are going to be. That never changes, you’re always becoming, that it’s crucial at that point.

“Looking at her as a mentor and someone that guide me in my life, it’s like I couldn’t have asked for anything better. I’m just lucky that I got to have an incredible experience and got to learn from the best.”

The relationships she made at Texas A&M continue to hold strong. Her teammates are still some of her best friends. 

“We still talk all the time,” McDonald-Kelley. “They were at my wedding. We have a group message going, you know with Scarborough, (Jamie) Hinshaw, (Jami) Lobpries, (Megan) Gibson, (Lisa) Gorzycki. I still call them by their maiden names. There are so many great memories that connect us.”

You’re always an Aggie. For McDonald-Kelley it is no different. She holds tremendous pride in the program and the steps they continue to make. This marks her second trip to the crown jewel of SEC softball, Davis Diamond, having brought her Campbell squad to the 2021 Reveille Classic. 

“It’s unbelievable,” McDonald-Kelley said. “Right after it was completed my mom and I went up there to see it. It was unbelievable. It’s so good for the sport. And the pictures don’t do it justice. I love that something was built like that for a woman’s sport. I think it set the standard for how it can be done. I’m so thankful that it was A&M setting that standard. It’s all the things that I think should happen for women’s sports. It’s smart to invest in the sport. It’s growing and so many young girls are playing it in record numbers. It’s awesome. I love it and I’m so excited to come back and play there again.”