There is a moment in nearly every Oakland University basketball game when Kahlil Felder stuns everybody in the arena. It can be a fast-break block from behind on a taller opponent, when Felder’s outstretched hand reaches halfway up the backboard square. Or an ankle-breaking crossover dribble that leaves an opponent tumbling to the floor. Or Felder’s cleanly swishing a 3-pointer, only four steps in from the halfcourt line, over a frozen defender.
These feats threaten to become routine, but they seem all the more remarkable because they are accomplished by a player of Felder’s stature: At 5 feet 9 inches, he is small even for a midmajor college point guard.
“I play out there with two chips on my shoulder: one because people think I am not tall enough, and another because I need to always prove myself every game,” Felder said. “I am just giving it everything I have every single game because it is hard work that has gotten me here. And I feel like I still have a long way to go.”
As he draws more and more notice from NBA teams and opponents, Felder is trying to make his statistics speak louder than his height, or, more precisely, his lack of it. A junior, he ranks third in the nation in scoring, at 25.6 points a game, and first in Division I in assists, with 8.7.
Still, for a 5-9 guard with pro dreams, perception is always the highest hurdle. While his NBA aspirations are gaining some traction — he is ranked No. 46 on the DraftExpress 2016 mock draft board — all 45 players ahead of him on that list stand 6-1 and taller. ESPN’s top 100 had him 95th last week, and on the NBAdraft.net projections for the 60 picks this year, no player under 6-2, much less Felder, made the cut.
“It shouldn’t be about your height, because, man, that’s the one thing I can’t do nothing about,” Felder said. “It should all be about your hard work, talent and how bad you want to succeed. That I think I’ve got.”
Felder is the quiet leader of the Golden Grizzlies (14-8, 6-3 Horizon League), but his play speaks volumes. His starring performance, so far, was a 37-point effort in a 99-93 overtime loss to then No. 1-ranked Michigan State on Dec. 22. Felder hurt the Spartans in every way possible — drives, jumpers, 3-pointers — without a turnover in a 21-point first half. Michigan State’s Lourawls Nairn Jr., who goes by Tum Tum, paid more attention to his defense in the second half to slow Felder, but the overall performance, which included a late 3-pointer that helped force overtime, impressed Spartans coach Tom Izzo.
“He looked like one of the best players I ever saw play here in that stretch,” Izzo said about Felder’s first half, in a game played on the home floor of the Detroit Pistons. “And I’ve watched a lot of pro games here.”
Felder’s teammate, the sophomore forward Jalen Hayes, said he had come to expect anything from him — including passes out of nowhere.
“You always got to be ready because he is so fast,” Hayes said. “First time I played with him, I was like, ‘Whoa, I got to catch up with this guy.’ Kay plays at his own speed, and he sees things that just are pretty amazing.”
Felder was not heavily recruited by elite college programs out of Detroit’s Pershing High School, despite finishing fourth in Michigan’s Mr. Basketball voting in his senior year. But the Oakland assistant coach Saddi Washington had spotted his potential a year earlier, noticing Felder’s quickness, leaping ability and court vision.
“I never was bothered by his height because I saw his heart and head — he’s a total basketball player in every way,” Washington said. His scouting report to Oakland coach Greg Kampe on Felder was enthusiastic. “It didn’t take much convincing on my part to have Kampe see what I saw in Kay. He reminds you of Barry Sanders; he can move sideways and bam, he’s gone.”
Kampe immediately saw Felder’s potential for his guard-driven, up-tempo offensive philosophy. Felder is usually the fastest player on the floor, and with his 37-inch, two-footed vertical leaping range and his upper-body strength, it can be hard even for taller players to defend him.
Felder estimates that he is calling 65 percent of the plays on instinct right now for the Oakland offense. Kampe said he wants Felder to own 100 percent of the calls.
“We’ve had guards here who have been tops in the nation in scoring, guards who have been tops in the nation in assists, but never somebody who’s doing it at the same time — that’s the remarkable part,” Kampe said. “We have NBA scouts coming here all the time to look at Kay and see what is going on. And we always tell them the same thing: ‘Judge him by what he is doing on the floor. Look at how hard he is working to make himself better. Just don’t go by the height.’ ”
But the height remains an issue. Felder has received encouraging Twitter messages this season from fellow undersize guards like Allen Iverson and the Boston Celtics’ Isaiah Thomas, as well as attention from national pundits.
Felder is especially heartened by the success of Thomas, a 5-9 point guard who has developed into the Celtics’ leading scorer.
“I see guys like Isaiah showing the league is opening up to guys who are like me because we can play,” Felder said. “It’s all about if you can get it done, right?”
The accolades, from the media and the public, started after the Michigan State game and have continued. Eleven NBA scouts attended Oakland’s Jan. 16 game against Detroit. A bigger stage like the NCAA tournament could do even more to raise Felder’s profile, but the Golden Grizzlies will probably have to win the Horizon League’s automatic bid to qualify.
“Anybody who knows me knows what matters the most: winning games and getting to the NCAA tournament,” Felder said. “I am going to do whatever I have to do to help my team win and get there. That’s it.”
