University of Massachusetts men’s basketball head coach Frank Martin announced the addition of Derek Kellogg to his staff as an assistant coach on Wednesday, pending the completion of a background check. Kellogg returns to Massachusetts, where he was the head coach for nine years from 2008-17 and was an all-Atlantic 10 selection as a player for the Minutemen.
Kellogg led the Minutemen to the NCAA Tournament in 2013-14 to mark the first bid for Massachusetts since the 1997-98 season. The squad earned the No. 6-seed after starting the year with a 16-1 record and a national ranking as high as No. 12 on the way to a 24-9 record in the regular season. Kellogg helped the Minutemen to three 20-win seasons as the head coach, first reaching the mark during the 2011-12 season as the team finished with a 25-12 record to mark the first postseason appearance for the team since 2008. The squad reached the semifinals and became the fourth team in NIT history to reach the semifinals by winning three straight road games.
“After four months here, the last thing that I ever thought would be a reality in our vision to connect the past with the present and reconnect UMass basketball with success would be available at this moment, allowing us to hire Derek Kellogg as a member of our staff,” said Martin. “Derek is a very accomplished coach in this industry that we are fortunate to have back providing us the ability to continue to connect the UMass basketball family and continue to grow it and make it special like he lived it as a player and a coach.”
Kellogg arrived at LIU Brooklyn in 2017-18 and led the team to the 2018 NCAA Tournament after securing the automatic bid with a NEC Tournament Championship. His teams at LIU finished at .500 or better in four of his five seasons at the helm. He picked up his 200th career coaching win in February of 2020.
“Adding a coach that knows and loves UMass is a huge victory for our men’s basketball program,” said director of athletics Ryan Bamford. “Derek Kellogg cares deeply about the University of Massachusetts and is truly invested in rebuilding our proud program. This is a tremendous hire by Coach Martin. It is great to have Derek, Nicole and Max back in maroon and white.”
As a player at UMass, Kellogg was part of teams that won four Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament titles and compiled a 111-24 record during his four years under John Calipari. The Minutemen reached four NCAA Tournaments from 1991-95, including an Elite Eight appearance during the 1994-95 season. Kellogg was a three-time Atlantic 10 All-Academic selection and earned third-team all-conference and A-10 All-Tournament Team honors in 1994-95.
Kellogg secured his first assistant coach position at George Mason in 1997 and added a year of experience at Youngstown State before joining Calipari’s staff at Memphis from 2000-08, where he helped coach the Tigers to the national championship game in 2008.
Kellogg returns to UMass as Assistant Basketball Coach
Photo Courtesy UMass Athletics
