Prized recruits cite Kellogg in decision

David Gibbs officially became a Minuteman Thursday and Hashim "Big City" Bailey will be joining him shortly.

The University of Massachusetts announced that Gibbs, an incoming freshman guard, has earned the necessary combination of core-course grades and standardized testing scores to be eligible in his first season as a Minuteman. Bailey, a 6-foot-10, 270-pound big man who played at Memphis as a freshman before deciding to transfer, took an official visit at UMass Thursday and said he planned on enrolling at UMass this fall.

Papa Lo and Trey Lang, who are both transferring from UMass, were officially removed from the roster Thursday as well.

Bailey said the presence of Derek Kellogg, who was an assistant coach last year at Memphis, was the primary reason he chose UMass over Southern California, which was also interested.

"I was really close to him," Bailey said. "He was the one that would tell me any time I made a mistake and picked me up. He started recruiting me after he got the UMass job."

Bailey was a highly-regarded recruit coming out of Passaic County Tech in Wayne, N.J., but he never cracked the playing rotation on a deep Memphis squad. He averaged 1.1 points and 0.9 rebounds in two seasons. He'll sit out the 2008-09 season under NCAA transfer rules and will have two years of eligibility remaining beginning in the 2009-10 season.

Bailey, who has played in the system Kellogg plans to employ, hopes he can help his new teammates adjust to it during his year off.

"I hope I can help a lot of guys. I heard we're going to run a lot of the old Memphis plays," Bailey said.

Gibbs, who UMass lists at 6-foot-4, 185 pounds, is a combination guard from East Hartford, Conn. He averaged 22.5 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds at the Master's School in West Simsbury, Conn. Kellogg was glad to have him in the fold.

"He's another versatile guy who can play multiple positions," Kellogg said. "He can play the point, the two and the three. I'm excited to coach him. He's a guy that really looks to get the team involved. When he gets a little bit stronger and learns to play at this level we think he can be a really good player for us."

When Gibbs signed in November, his AAU coach Pat Sullivan raved about Gibbs' speed.

"David is not only the fastest player I have ever coached, but the fastest I have ever seen on the court," Sullivan said. "David does everything well. He is solid on defense. He is extremely unselfish and can score at will. He has competed against the highest level of competition and succeeded. He has all the tools and sees the floor very well. He makes every player on the court better as he has the unique ability to get the ball to where his teammates can have the most success."

Gibbs will join a backcourt this year that features veterans Chris Lowe, Anthony Gurley, Ricky Harris and Gary Correia. Sophomore Matt Glass has played some guard but is expected to be primarily a forward.

UConn transfer Doug Wiggins, who announced early in the summer that he planned to attend UMass, is expected to be in the backcourt mix in 2009-2010. But he has yet to be officially added to the roster. Travon Wilcher, a big man from Springfield hasn't been declared eligible yet either.

MISCELLANEOUS - Kellogg was amused at all the attention his family's purchase of Travis Ford's old house had received.

"It was perfect for us," he said. "It had everything we were looking for." ... The UMass players have run basketball clinics all summer for kids in Springfield. They brought the kids to the Mullins Center for the final session Thursday. Kellogg was pleased at the response of both the kids in Springfield and his own players.

"From all indications it was a really positive thing," said Kellogg, who grew up in Springfield. "Our team liked it. One of my great memories growing up was the clinics they had in Springfield. It's always great to know there's some place safe where you can go and work on your game."

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. For more UMass coverage, including a UMass sports blog, go to http://www.gazettenet.com/category/sports/umass-sports