Anytime one member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame compares you to another Hall of Famer, you're probably doing something right on the basketball court.

That moment came for Navy senior center Will Kelly when Indiana Pacers great Reggie Miller dubbed him the "Baby Admiral" while calling an Army-Navy game on CBS Sports Network in an homage to 1987 Naval Academy graduate and two-time NBA Champion David "The Admiral" Robinson.

Now in the 30th anniversary season of Robinson leading Navy to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight in 1986, the 6-foot-9, 238-pound Kelly is poised for a special senior season and could graduate as Navy's second-best shot-blocker behind only Robinson.

Kelly likely won't threaten Robinson's incredible career total of 516 blocked shots, but in 2014-15 he did become the first Midshipman to lead the Patriot League in blocks per game since 2000 and his rim-protecting abilities will be a big factor in Navy's defensive efforts again this year.

"Whenever I can get three or four blocks in a game, or even if I can get a block early on, it sends a message to the other team," Kelly said. "If someone tries to drive they will be looking for where I am before they look at the rim. I am going to make them take the hardest shot I can."

"We have been funneling everything defensively to him since his freshman year and he has been able to change and alter shots," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis. "Now as he has improved his timing he has become a real shot-blocker, which is a tremendous help to our defense. He has a good knack of keeping the ball in play which lets us start our break going the other way and go from defense to offense very quickly."

Kelly has been making opponents think twice before driving the lane since arriving in Annapolis in the summer of 2012. DeChellis started him 12 times as a freshman and his first double-figure scoring performance (10 points) came on 5-of-5 shooting in an 85-66 win over Monmouth.

His first career double-double came versus Lehigh in a 11-point, 10-rebound effort against the defending Patriot League Champions. He later pulled down 13 rebounds in a win over American, the most rebounds by a Navy freshman in 20 years.

Kelly continued to develop in his sophomore season and began to show a penchant for playing at a high level against archrival Army.

The Mids posted a convincing 79-57 win over the Black Knights at West Point and Kelly had a strong all-around game with six points, nine rebounds, three assists, three blocks and one steal. Kelly helped Navy snap a two-game losing streak to Army.

One week later, Kelly had a monster game at Lehigh with 19 points, 10 rebounds and three dunks while outplaying Tim Kempton, the future Patriot League Player of the Year.

Kelly started 21 games in his sophomore season and ranked fourth in the Patriot League in blocks per game.

Navy improved its overall win total for the third straight season last year in Kelly's junior campaign. Kelly led the Patriot League with 1.8 blocked shots per game and ranked in the top-60 in the NCAA. His defensive efforts helped Navy rank second in the conference in scoring defense (64.3).

Kelly also led the Mids in total rebounds and was Navy's defensive player of the year.

The big man continued to play at his best against rival Army and had 13 points, a career-high eight blocked shots, seven rebounds and two assists in Navy's 56-52 win over the Black Knights in the Patriot League Tournament First Round. It was Navy's first Patriot League Tournament victory since 2001.

Kelly's rim protecting helped hold Army 20 points under its season average of 72 and his eight blocks established a Navy Patriot League Tournament record.

"It's easy to show up and play hard for the Army-Navy game," said Kelly. "We get really hyped up that whole week for the game and the build-up really gets you ready to perform on the court."

Navy beat Army three times in 2014-15, and in the team's two regular season wins Kelly combined for 13 points, 13 rebounds, five blocks and two steals.

Heading into his senior season, Kelly already ranks fourth in school history in career blocked shots with 112. He needs 78 blocks this season to move into second place in program history, where he would trail only Robinson. Kelly already ranks in the top-20 in blocked shots in Patriot League history.

As Kelly ascends closer to Robinson's school-record blocked shot totals this year, he will do so 30 years after Robinson led Navy on its special NCAA Tournament Elite Eight run.

Robinson averaged 22.7 points, 13.0 rebounds and 5.9 blocks and earned All-America honors while leading the Mids (30-5) past Tulsa, Syracuse and Cleveland State in the tournament before falling to Duke in the Elite Eight.

Kelly's father, Willie, also has an Elite Eight connection, as he was a top reserve on Pittsburgh's first-ever NCAA Elite Eight team in 1974. Willie Kelly started a number of games for Pitt in his final two seasons and in 1976, just like his son would do decades later, he led his college team in blocked shots.

"We would always go to Pitt football homecoming games when I was younger and my dad would show me the Elite Eight team photo in the Pitt Hall of Fame," said Kelly. "He also has his framed Senior Day jersey hanging up in our house, so I used to see it every day growing up."

The elder Kelly likes to jokingly hold his NCAA Tournament playing experience over his son's head, but a Navy team goal this season is to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998, which would allow the younger Kelly to even out the family bragging rights with his father.

Kelly, a New Jersey native, will graduate from the Naval Academy in May with a degree in international relations and will be commissioned as an officer in either the U.S. Navy or the U.S. Marine Corps. Kelly has a keen interest in foreign affairs and would like to eventually work at an U.S. Embassy in a foreign country.