Former UMass coach Derek Kellogg excited about new start at LIU

By MATT VAUTOUR

@MattVautourDHG

Published: 04-18-2017 8:37 PM

After a day of meeting with media, administrators, his players and fans, new Long Island coach Derek Kellogg and his wife Nicole were about to get on the subway to go to a celebratory dinner.

The transportation was a reminder of how different their life was going to be in their new location, and the meal was going to be a rare moment of calm in his immediate future.

“With the administration support and what we’re trying to do, it was a great situation for our family,” Kellogg said. “We’re really excited. We loved our time at UMass. It has a special place in our hearts and always will. But this has given us a new energy professionally and personally. It’s a win-win for everybody involved at this point. I’m energized and ready to take on a new challenge.”

LIU athletic director Brad Cohen mirrored Kellogg’s enthusiasm in the press release announcing the hire.

“Coach Kellogg has experienced success as both a coach and a player at the highest levels of college basketball,” Cohen said. “Derek Kellogg is exactly the kind of coach we were seeking to elevate Blackbirds basketball and create a championship program for years to come in Brooklyn.”

Kellogg, who was fired by UMass on March 9 after nine seasons, was unemployed 40 days before being officially introduced as the new head Blackbird Tuesday at the Barclays Center, a couple blocks from LIU’s Brooklyn campus.

It’s a homecoming for Nicole Kellogg, who has lived in the New York suburbs as well as in Manhattan.

Derek Kellogg said taking a year off didn’t appeal to him.

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“At first with the initial shock, you think you might need a break,” he said. “After shuffling around the house for a couple days wondering what was next, I wanted to get back into coaching and be a head coach again.”

Kellogg said he’d been contacted about other jobs and interviewed for one, but declined to reveal what school. He said he would have been willing to be an assistant again if that was the best fit.

“This was the best situation for what we were looking for and what LIU was looking for,” he said. “Being a head coach was what I was striving for, but I wasn’t afraid to step back and be an assistant if I needed to.”

Since rumors of him getting the job began surfacing Kellogg has been getting deluged with interest from prospective assistant coaches.

He said he hadn’t made a decision yet on who’d be on his staff.

Former Minuteman guard Chaz Williams, a vocally proud Brooklyn native, took to Twitter: “I Knew You Wish You Was From Brooklyn @CoachKellogg Congrats Coach Love You Man!”

Former UMass coach John Calipari also praised Kellogg, who both played and worked for him:

“So happy for @CoachKellogg, the new head coach at LIU Brooklyn. Great coach who was a heck of a player. Took us to new heights at UMass.”

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage

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