Kellogg to coach UMass
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AMHERST - In the hope of building on the men's basketball program's recent success, the University of Massachusetts is hiring a coach who helped produce a winning team in Amherst as a player during the 1990s.
UMass will announce the hiring of former Minuteman point guard Derek Kellogg as the new head coach at a press conference scheduled for 6 p.m. today at the Curry Hicks Cage.
Kellogg, 34, graduated in 1991 from Cathedral High School in Springfield and in 1995 from UMass. He was part of four Atlantic 10 regular-season and tournament championships in his four years as a Minuteman, and has been an assistant at Memphis under former UMass coach John Calipari for the past eight years.
Kellogg will succeed Travis Ford, who was hired by Oklahoma State last week after three seasons at UMass.
UMass announced Tuesday that it would introduce its new head coach today. While athletic director John McCutcheon declined to say who had been hired until the press conference, several other sources confirmed it is Kellogg.
McCutcheon did say he is happy with the result of the search.
"I couldn't be more excited about the candidate we've chosen," McCutcheon said.
Phone calls to Kellogg's cell phone were not answered.
At least symbolically, the hiring represents a reconnection between the program and the Calipari era. After Calipari left following the 1995-96 season to become the head coach of the New Jersey Nets, UMass hired Bruiser Flint, his top assistant.
Flint was forced to resign following the 2000-01 season, and UMass hired back-to-back coaches with no Calipari connections in Steve Lappas and Ford.
During the coaching search in 2005, UMass interviewed Tony Barbee, a UMass alumnus and former player and assistant coach under Calipari, but instead hired Ford, citing Barbee's lack of head coaching experience.
Coming off back-to-back top-four finishes in the Atlantic 10 Conference and consecutive trips to the National Invitation Tournament, McCutcheon said last week that he preferred someone with head coaching experience, but added that he would consider an assistant "if they have things in their makeup that make them a very strong candidate."
Kellogg has been widely lauded for his ability to recruit at Memphis, which has annually had top-10 recruiting classes while he has been an assistant.
Two highly regarded players - Derrick Rose, the freshman who helped lead the Tigers to the NCAA championship game this season, and Tyreke Evans, the No. 1 high school player in the country who announced last week he is Memphis bound - were recruited extensively by Kellogg.
After graduating from UMass in 1995, Kellogg worked outside of basketball for a year before joining Flint's staff as a graduate assistant for the 1996-97 season.
Kellogg then spent two years on Jim Larranaga's staff at George Mason before joining former UMass assistant coach John Robic for one season at Youngstown State.
Kellogg has been at Memphis since 2000-01.
Kellogg's coaching staff is not yet complete, but one noteworthy assistant is already on board, as former Pepperdine head coach Vance Walberg will be part of his staff.
Not only will that give Kellogg an aide who has run a program before, but Walberg's offensive innovations are legendary in coaching circles. Working as a junior college coach, Walberg invented the "dribble drive motion" offense, an up-tempo system that differs from a standard motion offense because it does not use screening.
This year the Boston Celtics, Memphis and St. Anthony's High School in Jersey City, N.J., which was ranked as USA Today's No. 1 high school team, all used variations of Walberg's system, which takes advantage of quick and athletic guards.
Kellogg will have those guards right away as he inherits a UMass team that finished 25-11 in the Atlantic 10 and returns its starting backcourt of Chris Lowe and Ricky Harris.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. For more UMass coverage, including a UMass sports blog, go to www.dailyhampshiregazette.com/umsports.
