Kelley McAdams was a 1930 graduate of Sam Houston State Teachers College where he also lettered in baseball 1923-24. He also earned a Master of Science degree from Texas A&M University in 1932. McAdams taught vocational agriculture in Texas high schools for 10 years before moving to Austin and entering the contracting and construction business.

McAdams married Ina May Ogletree in 1928.

He was a 1978 inductee into the Bearkat Hall of Honor and was named a Distinguished Alumnus in 1986.Besides the McAdams Tennis Center, which was established by McAdams and their daughter and son-in-law, gifts to SHSU included the $10,000 McAdams Baseball Scholarship established in 1974, and the McAdams Journalism Scholarship, established in 1992. The McAdams also established scholarships at the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, Baylor University and Southwest Texas State University