Derek Kellogg has not had the best start to his head coaching career.
In 2008-2009, his Minutemen struggled through a 12-18 season, although they did knock off then-defending champion Kansas. Last season wasn't much better, as UMass finished just 12-20. And while UMass brings back the majority of their rotation, they will be conspicuously without Ricky Harris, who was just seven points shy of averaging 20 ppg on the season.
But the good people of Amherst do have something to look forward too. Kellogg is proving to be a serious recruiter. His 2009 class was impressive, as top 100 recruit Terrell Vinson headlined a five-man class where each player received at least a three-star rating by Rivals (Vinson was a four-star).
Derek Kellogg has been doing a great job on the recruiting trail.(photo credit: NCAABBS)
This season, Kellogg brings in three more three-star recruits, with 5'8" spark plug Daryl Traynham, who cracked the Rivals top 150 list, leading the way.
With second leading scorer Anthony Gurley also coming back, UMass has talent on their roster this season. I doubt I'm the only one that thinks this team could be a sleeper in the Atlantic 10 this season.
But wait.
There's more.
Cady Lalanne is an 6'7" forward that showed enough potential to draw interest from a number of major college programs before committing to Georgia last October. But Lalanne couldn't get academically eligible at Georgia, and as the SEC does not allow Prop-48 players (Prop-48 requires incoming student-athletes to reach certain academic standards, and if they aren't met, the athlete can become eligible if they have a 2.0 GPA after their freshman year), Lalanne needed to find a different school.
Along came Kellogg, who scooped up Lalanne two weeks ago.
But wait.
There's more.
Luke Cothron has as much potential as just about any power forward in the class of 2010. He's big, he's athletic, and he has the skills to be a face up forward. But he also has attitude and effort problems, and after bouncing around during high school, Cothron committed to, then de-committed from, NC State before signing with Auburn. But like Lalanne, Cothron was not cleared academically. And like Lalanne, Cothron is expected to go from the SEC to UMass.
Now, neither Cothron or Lalanne (Cothron and Lalanne ... has a nice ring to it, no?) will be eligible until 2011. And there's something to be said about the potential of a recruit that is unable to get eligible in college -- especially one with the red flags of a kid like Cothron. But talent is talent. Kellogg is a protoge of John Calipari, who has seemingly perfected the art of coaching questionable characters with talent.
With a roster that will lose just one significant piece this year (Gurley), and a full year for Kellogg to bring in another recruit of two, the future looks bright for the Minutemen.
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4 comments:
Can you write an article mentioning Calipari without a backhanded compliment? "Perfecting the art of coaching questionable characters" translates to "if the kid has talent, nothing else matters." C'mon man, you're better than that, don't be like the national media, I quit reading their crap because of the same remarks months ago.
@kyle - you quit reading the national media crap? how do you get your news? messages in a bottle?
Really? That's your response?
I'm not sure the Calipari-Kellogg comparison holds much water.
So far Kellogg has brought in some decent talent, but they've all been good kids, and they qualified immediately. Kothron is the first who has any real baggage. And from what I've read about the guy I'll be very surprised if he ever steps on the court in a UMass uniform.
Further, Kellogg has shown very little coaching ability so far. Yes he's still getting his feet wet, but his mentor hit the ground running the moment he arrived in Amherst.
Calipari has changed over the years. Some of the stuff that people hate has always been there, but I think he has turned more corrupt at each new job. And he's finally home. He deserves that house of kooks. (I take it that Kyle is a UK fan, albeit one of the quieter, reasonable ones)
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