SAN ANTONIO — High-level athletes. Maybe they're just like us. Take Miles Kelly for example.
The Auburn basketball guard's been one of the Tigers' most prolific shooters this season, averaging double-digit points and posting nine performances where he dropped 15 or more points. He's been deadly from distance, too, making four or more triples in seven games.
But in his downtime? Well, just like anyone, Kelly has hobbies. He's a builder when he's not on the hardwood.
A builder of Legos, that is.
Kelly's love for Legos began two years ago, he said, with the 403-piece Dobby the House-Elf set, based off the Harry Potter character. After that, he built the 487-piece Spider-Man mask set, and it has been downhill ever since.
"I just really fell in love with them," Kelly told the Montgomery Advertiser. "It soothes me, honestly, to just take my mind off basketball. Ever since then, I just really love collecting them. I like having that memorabilia. All of them are just so precious to me. Every time I go to the store, I always have to see if they have the latest Legos out. So, I mean, the Lego thing, it's super real."
Kelly estimated he has about 10 sets built, but he's currently working on the Lamborghini Countach, a 1,506-piece set. He's also building out a set of the house from Disney's "Up," which is listed at 598 pieces. He wasn't sure exactly how much he's spent on his hobby, but he's certainly the total is comfortably at four figures.
"But I definitely need the Harry Potter castle," he said. "That's the one I've really been wanting, and that's something that I know is going to take a long time to put together."
The Hogwarts Castle set he's referencing would certainly be a crown jewel for any collector. Listed as $469.99, it's 6,020 pieces — the 10th-largest Lego set ever sold. There's a chance Kelly gets his hands on it before he gets back to Auburn, too.
He noted there's a Lego store in downtown San Antonio, blocks away from the team hotel. And he's adamant he'll swing by before the Tigers return to the Plains.
"Over these next couple of weeks, I mean, I'm going to have time to do that," he said. "So, that is my dream one right now, the Harry Potter castle."
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at acole@gannett.com or on X, the ...
