MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Mark Kellogg has been coaching college basketball for 20 years. He will probably coach another 20, and there is a really good chance that he will never again have a player quite like JJ Quinerly, whose career-high 38 points Wednesday night against Utah matched Meg Bulger's 20-year school record.
 
"That was the single best performance I've been a part of as a coach," Kellogg said afterward. "I'm just really proud for this kid over here (Quinerly) and for this to be her last game, that's special stuff right there. She's a special kid and a special player.
 
"It was easy from a coaching standpoint because it was just get the ball to No. 11 and get the hell out of the way and let her do her thing," he added.
 
The senior is now within 100 points of becoming only the school's fourth 2,000-point scorer. She probably won't reach the 2,113 points Cathy Parson tallied during her fabulous four-year career here ending in 1983, but Parson also didn't play the type of schedule Quinerly has faced in the Big 12 Conference either.
 
Last night's explosion against a very good Utah team has once again pushed Quinerly's scoring average above 20 points per game, and her 317 career steals are now third-most in school annals behind just Jenny Hillen (350) and Talisha Hargis (355).
 
"I'm so glad to have this group of people who support me, my teammates, coaches, fans and everybody," she said after the game. "I'm definitely grateful that I stayed here all four years under three different coaches, but it just feels great to leave a legacy that I've always wanted to do."
 
Now that we are in the transfer portal era of college sports, JJ could be one of the last of the terrific four-year standouts that we are able to enjoy at WVU. 
 
Her blend of scoring and defense is only matched by the great Rosemary Kosiorek, the school's first and only first team All-American. For the people here who are not old enough to recall Kosiorek, she was such an amazing competitor.
 
So that's where Quinerly, in my opinion, sits among the best in school history!
 
However, standing a few players down from JJ in last night's celebration line singing "Take Me Home, Country Roads" was senior forward Kyah Watson.
 
Kyah doesn't score quite like Quinerly does, so many fans don't pay as much attention to her as they do JJ, but her talents are equally rare.
 
I will venture to say if Kellogg coaches another 20 years, he might never run across another player quite like Kyah Watson either.
 
She's one of a kind. 

Actually, she's a five-in-one player capable of guarding any position on the floor, because she has.
 
"I can't think of one that I've ever had that did as much as she does that doesn't necessarily require scoring to play hard and compete," Kellogg said recently of Watson. "A lot of kids want to defend when they score and it's really hard to get kids to want to defend when they are not scoring or not getting touches.
 
"At times, I think she probably does get a little frustrated because we miss her from time to time offensively, but the impact she has on a game is phenomenal. She is maybe the best defender in this league, and she has worked herself into that," he added.
 
Watson was a good player for Dawn Plitzuweit the year she coached the Mountaineers to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2023.
 
Since then, Watson has transformed herself into an elite player physically and mentally. 
 
"When I got here, we didn't say that, even necessarily a year ago," Kellogg marveled. "She leads us in steals, more than JJ, by (eight) at the moment. She leads our team in rebounding. She leads the league in steals. She's fourth in rebounding; she touches everything and has literally guarded every position at some point this year."
 
Therefore, it's no accident that West Virginia's record is 47-14 over the last two seasons with the Rapid City, South Dakota, resident in the starting lineup. West Virginia was unbeatable at home this year with a 16-0 record, and over the last two seasons, the Mountaineers are 30-2 here with a one-point loss to Baylor last year removed from winning 23 straight.
 
This two-year run ranks among the best in the 51-year history of West Virginia University women's basketball!
 
When the final seconds were ticking off the clock during last night's 74-46 Utah victory, and Kellogg finally felt secure enough to sub Watson out of the game, he walked over to his senior and motioned for the crowd to give her a standing ovation, just as they had done previously for Quinerly.
 
Then, he gave her a big hug. That's what coaches do to their security blankets.
 
"(Kyah's) instincts are great," Kellogg said. "She has a good IQ and when we put things in, she picks up on it quickly. She's a processor, and she is a little bit of a thinker, too. When you talk to her, she may pause for a second and process things before she even answers. When she gets on the court, it just clicks for her. 
 
"My job was, I saw her talents and I wanted to put her in a position to take full advantage of it, and to her credit, she's done that," he added.
 
Kellogg strongly believes a successful coaching career is in Watson's future, just as he believes a successful professional playing career is in Quinerly's future.
 
In all my years watching men's and women's basketball, I can't recall a player who does more to impact a game without scoring than Kyah Watson, just as Quinerly impacts games with her scoring.
 
As for Watson, Kellogg can't count the number of times coaches have come up to him after games telling him, "Man, I love Kyah Watson!"
 
His reply?
 
"I love Kyah Watson, too! That's why I can't take her off the floor most nights," he said.
 
JJ Quinerly and Kyah Watson, West Virginia University's two one-of-a-kind players!