Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
What a Difference a Year Makes for Kellogg’s Mountaineers
July 24, 2024 04:47 PM | Women's Basketball, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Mark Kellogg was on an airplane headed to Dallas to do some recruiting last weekend when he ran into a random Mountaineer fan who quickly recognized him.
No sooner had he sat down when the lady sitting next to him asked if she could FaceTime her husband so they could talk.
"I was talking to this guy and the first thing he brought up was the Iowa game," Kellogg said after practice earlier today. "People pay attention - and are paying attention."
Indeed, they are.
West Virginia's game last March in Iowa City, Iowa, against No. 1-seeded Iowa and its superstar player Caitlin Clark was the type of performance that can put an aspiring program on the map. It was anyone's game with less than five minutes to go before fate intervened. The Hawkeyes eventually won by 10, but it was the Mountaineers who won over their fan base and the country.
Because of Clark's popularity and an attentive prime-time national TV audience on ESPN, the tweets and social media postings afterward transcended the sport. And all of them were positive toward Kellogg's Mountaineer program and players for the way they conducted themselves under some very difficult circumstances.
Now, four months later, the dynamic for his basketball team has changed considerably.
WVU's communications director Chris Coombs arranged an open practice this morning and a media gathering was scheduled afterward before the team travels to Europe for its three-game tour of Italy and Croatia.
Photographers, videographers and sportswriters stood along the side court and then almost every chair in the basketball practice facility's media room was occupied while Kellogg addressed them. When he was doing these types of things last year, there were less than a half-dozen people in the room, including Athletics Department staffers.
Yes, the trajectory of West Virginia University women's basketball is definitely trending upward.
"I hope we are building some excitement around here, and I think season ticket sales are already at an all-time high, and we want to continue to grow it and build it and have something truly special here," he said.
Of course, coming along with this upward trajectory are increased expectations.
Last year, West Virginia was undervalued in the preseason and wasn't on the national radar screen, despite returning an all-conference-caliber player in JJ Quinerly. This year not only is Quinerly returning, but so is her outstanding backcourt mate Jordan Harrison, plus do-it-all wing Kyah Watson and 3-point shooting forward Kylee Blacksten.
Key substitutes Danelle Arigbabu and Tirzah Moore are back as well.
Then, Kellogg went transfer shopping and added Auburn guard Sydney Shaw, who from the looks of things in practice this morning, appears to be more than a suitable replacement for either Lauren Fields or Jayla Hemingway.
The Mountaineers have 13 players on their roster right now, including newcomer bigs Jordan Thomas and Celia Riviere, and another talented big is on the way when Feryal Atli arrives in August after playing with Turkey's U18 national team. The 6-foot-3 freshman forward entertained some big-time U.S. college offers before choosing the Mountaineers.
Buying into Kellogg's Mountaineer program seems to be a growing trend right now.
"With the top-100 kids, we should be on the phone with those type of kids and the majority of them do take our calls," he admitted. "What helped is an Iowa type game where so many people watched it that it makes that conversation a little bit easier now, at least initially. People get excited about what we're doing and want to be a part of that."
Including Shaw, who traded two years of playing SEC basketball at Auburn for a chance to be in the same backcourt with Quinerly and Harrison. She didn't watch the Iowa game, but she heard about it.
"They looked very good in the highlight film that they showed me," she said. "It did play a part (in her decision to transfer to WVU). I like the way they carry themselves, and I like the standards that they hold themselves to. It was something that I really wanted to be a part of."
Specifically, Shaw was attracted to Kellogg's wide-open system and the freedom it gives his players to take advantage of their individual skills and abilities.
"Everybody plays within the system, but then they have their own identity," she explained. "It's not like one size fits all. Everybody is able to do what they can do just within the system – freedom."
"What a difference a year makes," Kellogg adds, "just the feel that I have right now for lots of different reasons. A year ago, at this time, it was me and a couple of coaches, and Jordan and Zya (Nugent) were the only players who knew what was going on and what this is supposed to look like. Now, the players get to teach a lot of it because they know the system and the structure.
"I can take a step back, and my coaching staff is all back, so I can allow them to spread their wings in a way that they can take over their position work and I think we're functioning at a pretty high rate right now," he added.
Quinerly, who will be on preseason All-America lists later this fall, said nothing has changed.
"We're going to go out there and play everybody the same way we did last year. We've got nothing to lose," she shrugged.
Harrison views things a little bit differently.
"I think we got a lot more eyes on us after (the Iowa game) and for our team, we've got a lot of confidence from that game showing that we can play with anybody. We're not scared to play against anybody," she said.
A few moments later, she admitted to feeling a little more pressure to perform this season than she did last year.
"You now are held to a standard and are expected to win, and I think we will do well staying at that standard that people hold us to," she explained.
The team is scheduled to depart next Monday for Italy and will play games in Rome on Wednesday, July 31, and in Naples on Friday, Aug. 2, before wrapping up their tour in Croatia on Tuesday, Aug. 6.
Then, Kellogg will give his players a little time off before things ratchet back up when they return to campus for the beginning of the fall semester.
That's when Kellogg said he will address with them in much greater detail what will be expected of them this coming season – which is a lot.
"In the fall is when we really dive into it," he said.
"Hopefully, we'll get one of those Iowa-type games here in Morgantown pretty soon," he concluded.
No sooner had he sat down when the lady sitting next to him asked if she could FaceTime her husband so they could talk.
"I was talking to this guy and the first thing he brought up was the Iowa game," Kellogg said after practice earlier today. "People pay attention - and are paying attention."
Indeed, they are.
West Virginia's game last March in Iowa City, Iowa, against No. 1-seeded Iowa and its superstar player Caitlin Clark was the type of performance that can put an aspiring program on the map. It was anyone's game with less than five minutes to go before fate intervened. The Hawkeyes eventually won by 10, but it was the Mountaineers who won over their fan base and the country.
Because of Clark's popularity and an attentive prime-time national TV audience on ESPN, the tweets and social media postings afterward transcended the sport. And all of them were positive toward Kellogg's Mountaineer program and players for the way they conducted themselves under some very difficult circumstances.
Now, four months later, the dynamic for his basketball team has changed considerably.
WVU's communications director Chris Coombs arranged an open practice this morning and a media gathering was scheduled afterward before the team travels to Europe for its three-game tour of Italy and Croatia.
Photographers, videographers and sportswriters stood along the side court and then almost every chair in the basketball practice facility's media room was occupied while Kellogg addressed them. When he was doing these types of things last year, there were less than a half-dozen people in the room, including Athletics Department staffers.
Yes, the trajectory of West Virginia University women's basketball is definitely trending upward.
"I hope we are building some excitement around here, and I think season ticket sales are already at an all-time high, and we want to continue to grow it and build it and have something truly special here," he said.
Of course, coming along with this upward trajectory are increased expectations.
Last year, West Virginia was undervalued in the preseason and wasn't on the national radar screen, despite returning an all-conference-caliber player in JJ Quinerly. This year not only is Quinerly returning, but so is her outstanding backcourt mate Jordan Harrison, plus do-it-all wing Kyah Watson and 3-point shooting forward Kylee Blacksten.
Key substitutes Danelle Arigbabu and Tirzah Moore are back as well.
Then, Kellogg went transfer shopping and added Auburn guard Sydney Shaw, who from the looks of things in practice this morning, appears to be more than a suitable replacement for either Lauren Fields or Jayla Hemingway.
The Mountaineers have 13 players on their roster right now, including newcomer bigs Jordan Thomas and Celia Riviere, and another talented big is on the way when Feryal Atli arrives in August after playing with Turkey's U18 national team. The 6-foot-3 freshman forward entertained some big-time U.S. college offers before choosing the Mountaineers.
Buying into Kellogg's Mountaineer program seems to be a growing trend right now.
"With the top-100 kids, we should be on the phone with those type of kids and the majority of them do take our calls," he admitted. "What helped is an Iowa type game where so many people watched it that it makes that conversation a little bit easier now, at least initially. People get excited about what we're doing and want to be a part of that."
Including Shaw, who traded two years of playing SEC basketball at Auburn for a chance to be in the same backcourt with Quinerly and Harrison. She didn't watch the Iowa game, but she heard about it.
"They looked very good in the highlight film that they showed me," she said. "It did play a part (in her decision to transfer to WVU). I like the way they carry themselves, and I like the standards that they hold themselves to. It was something that I really wanted to be a part of."
Specifically, Shaw was attracted to Kellogg's wide-open system and the freedom it gives his players to take advantage of their individual skills and abilities.
"Everybody plays within the system, but then they have their own identity," she explained. "It's not like one size fits all. Everybody is able to do what they can do just within the system – freedom."
"What a difference a year makes," Kellogg adds, "just the feel that I have right now for lots of different reasons. A year ago, at this time, it was me and a couple of coaches, and Jordan and Zya (Nugent) were the only players who knew what was going on and what this is supposed to look like. Now, the players get to teach a lot of it because they know the system and the structure.
"I can take a step back, and my coaching staff is all back, so I can allow them to spread their wings in a way that they can take over their position work and I think we're functioning at a pretty high rate right now," he added.
Quinerly, who will be on preseason All-America lists later this fall, said nothing has changed.
"We're going to go out there and play everybody the same way we did last year. We've got nothing to lose," she shrugged.
Harrison views things a little bit differently.
"I think we got a lot more eyes on us after (the Iowa game) and for our team, we've got a lot of confidence from that game showing that we can play with anybody. We're not scared to play against anybody," she said.
A few moments later, she admitted to feeling a little more pressure to perform this season than she did last year.
"You now are held to a standard and are expected to win, and I think we will do well staying at that standard that people hold us to," she explained.
The team is scheduled to depart next Monday for Italy and will play games in Rome on Wednesday, July 31, and in Naples on Friday, Aug. 2, before wrapping up their tour in Croatia on Tuesday, Aug. 6.
Then, Kellogg will give his players a little time off before things ratchet back up when they return to campus for the beginning of the fall semester.
That's when Kellogg said he will address with them in much greater detail what will be expected of them this coming season – which is a lot.
"In the fall is when we really dive into it," he said.
"Hopefully, we'll get one of those Iowa-type games here in Morgantown pretty soon," he concluded.
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