Meet Dan Kelm: the unlikeliest member of the NBA's Early Entry list

Every year, as the early entry deadline passes, a couple of names pop up that just don't seem to fit.

In 2010, it was John Sloan, a member of the Huntingdon University (D-III) basketball team that put his name into the draft. This year, its Dan Kelm, a 6'0" sophomore guard for the Viterbo University Hawks. The Delafield, Wisconsin, native averaged just 1.2 ppg for the 6-25 Hawks this past season.

But that didn't stop him from declaring for the draft. And it won't stop him from keeping his name in once the May 8th deadline passes, officially ending his career at Viterbo. In an effort to expand his career options after he graduates, Kelm will be taking an internship (he's an accounting major) in Milwaukee in the spring. Knowing how easy it was to enter his name in the draft, Kelm figured 'Why not?'


"I had seen quite a bit online that people had been able to relatively easily enter the draft with no fee, nothing too painful," Kelm told me over the phone. "Just fill out a few applications and you're set. So I decided to see what its all about. I sent my declaration to the NBA, I received an application in the mail, I filled it out in about 15 minutes, and I was in the NBA Draft."

Kelm doesn't exactly have the kind of potential that most NBA teams are looking for. 6'0" shooting guards aren't exactly in high-demand in NBA front offices. But what Kelm lacks in tools he makes up for with sense of humor.

"No NBA teams have sent anything to me, I'm not exactly sure that they are interested in a guy that averaged 1.2 ppg at an NAIA school," Kelm said with a laugh. "But you never know, I'm keeping that option open."

If that option does, by miracle, stay open, Kelm knows where he wants his name called.

"I'm a die hard Milwaukee Bucks fan and I've lived in Wisconsin my whole life. The Bucks need a shooter. They got Brandon Jennings, they got Andrew Bogut. I would be the weapon from beyond the arc that they are desperately looking for."

There really is no downside to this decision. While it may be a pain for some of the folks at the NBA offices to deal with the extra paperwork of a kid that put his name in the draft as a joke, its more than worth the laugh for the rest of us.

The worst case scenario? Kelm gets a stronger social media presence.

"My twitter followers have doubled in six hours," Kelm said. (Follow him @danker25.)