It remains to be seen whether he has the goods to bring a national championship home to Amherst. But if Derek Kellogg is as good at recruiting and offensive and defensive strategy as he seems to be at community relations, UMass basketball fans are going to have an awful lot to cheer about this year.
"The thing with college athletics is that people want to feel connected to the university, the coach, the program and the players," Kellogg told the Greenfield Recorder's Jason Butynski during a recent stop at Taylor's Tavern in Greenfield
"If you expect people to come out and give you support, you want to get out into the community and let them know you care about what is going on," he added.
Kellogg's stop in Greenfield was one of a series the coach has made since being named to replace Travis Ford behind the UMass bench this season. Initially, there was some trepidation about Kellogg's hiring, which will be his first head coaching gig after spending the last several seasons working as an assistant to former UMass Coach John Calipari at Memphis.
The major rap on Kellogg is that he doesn't have the bench experience or the recruiting skills to handle a program of the stature of UMass'. But while the critics may ultimately prove correct in their assessments, no one can question Kellogg's success during his last pass through Minuteman Nation.
In his four years as Calipari's point guard, UMass won four straight conference titles and went 111-24. After leaving Amherst and going to Memphis, Kellogg helped Calipari build a team that has had a long history of success that reached its zenith this past spring when the Tigers very nearly won a national championship.
So the guy knows how to win. But, speaking as a lifelong resident of this area, Kellogg is already a winner in my book because of his obvious commitment to the community—which hasn't always been a priority among Division One coaches.
James "Bruiser" Flint had pretty solid local ties despite not being a native of the area, and the late Jack Lehman was a good community guy as well. But I wouldn't put Ford, Steve Lappas, or even Calipari in that category, though they were great coaches.
Part of what makes Kellogg different from those other guys is that he's one of us. A kid who grew up in Springfield, Kellogg understands what it's like to look with wide-eyed awe at big-time college basketball. He knows what it's like to grow up in an economically challenged region where a lot of people look to sports as their only outlet.
He also knows that for some inner-city kids, a college hoop scholarship may be their only way out of a bad situation, and Kellogg would like nothing better than to give some of those kids the same opportunity he received—although at this point he's finding himself with something of a log jam when it comes to new recruits.
Ford brought in six new freshman recruits last year, and at least three high-profile players from other programs are looking to transfer to UMass. The problem is, the university is only allowed a maximum of 13 scholarships per season, which doesn't leave the new coach a whole lot of room to bring in the guys he wants to build the team he needs to win.
In a way, it's a good problem to have, because you can never have too much talent. It's also not something he or any other Minuteman fan is going to sweat at a time when the big pre-Midnight Madness priority is getting the region excited about UMass hoops again.
"I'm hoping people will feel a connection to the program," Kellogg said. "I'm hoping that they're realistic on where the program is, where it can get to, and where it is heading."
I think the answer we're all hoping for is "up."
