The Prodigal Son Returns...

Derrick Kellogg first came to UMass in the fall of 1991. The Springfield, MA native was a three year starting point guard for coach John Calipari. The Minutemen made the NCAA Tournament all four of Kellogg's years. Kellogg was a rare two-year captain for Coach Cal and was the leader of the team that fell one game shy of making the 1995 Final Four -- losing to Big Country Reeves and Oklahoma State. (In reality, the team's fate was most likely sealed in February when Cal kicked Mike Williams, his top offensive player, off the team. Williams was never a model citizen off the court. In fact, Cal was fond of telling people privately that Williams had an addiction to "asshole pills.") After graduation, Kellogg coached at George Mason and Youngstown State, before joining Calipari at Memphis in 2000.

Now, 13 years later, Kellogg is returning home to Amherst. He will be introduced at a 6 P.M. press conference tonight in The Cage -- the same gym where Kellogg (as well as a guy named Julius Erving) started his UMass career. He got the job over another UMass alum, UTEP coach Tony Barbee. Barbee publicly stepped out of the running yesterday. Reportedly, he did this at "the request" of Calipari, so that Kellogg would be the clear cut favorite.

He is taking over a team that went 25-11 and lost in the NIT Championship. Starting guards Ricky Harris and Chris Lowe will be returning next year, and Wake Forest transfer Anthony Gurley will be eligible. Kellogg will hit the recruiting trail immediately. His first priority will be trying to keep Florida transfer Jonathan Mitchell interested in UMass. The 6'7" combo forward averaged 3 points per game (in just 11 minutes) during his freshman year. Under traitor liar Travis Ford, UMass was considered the favorite to land the New York City player. Once Ford left lied and and took off for OSWho, Mitchell's uncle told Hoops Weiss, "It's disappointing. It's safe to say they're no longer on the list." Other transfer targets will include UConn's Doug Wiggins and Ben Hansbrough (Tyler's brother), who is leaving Mississippi State after averaging 11 points a game as a sophomore.