CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — It has to be somewhere in the back of Wren Baker’s mind that his job as West Virginia’s athletic director suddenly doesn’t settle down once he makes a new men’s basketball hire official.
There is a horizon that is not somewhere off in the distance, but rather nearly on Baker’s doorstep, that he’s got some very good young coaches in other sports employed at WVU who could draw the same type of attention that former men’s hoops coach Darian DeVries did at Indiana.
At the top of that list is WVU women’s hoops coach Mark Kellogg, who had his second season come to an end Monday night in the second round of the NCAA tournament following a 58-47 loss against North Carolina inside Carmichael Arena.
Now, this isn’t to create more frustration in the fan base or fodder for message boards and social media.
To date, we’re not hearing Kellogg’s name being thrown around for other openings, but it would be dangerously naive to think he hasn’t, at the very least, fielded a few calls along the way looking to gauge his interest.
He’s just 48 years old and is armed with a style of play that is both exciting and different.
Of all his accomplishments with the Mountaineers, none are more impressive than the fact an average of 4,147 fans attended WVU’s 16 home games this season.
That is a 50.5% increase from the 2013-14 season, in which the Mountaineers finished 30-5 and finished with a No. 7 ranking in the AP poll.
That’s the type of instant and positive impact Kellogg has had in Morgantown. Not just on WVU or his players, but the community as a whole.
And by Kellogg’s own observation during Sunday’s pregame press conferences, he’s found a way to have an impact on the media, too.
“We’ve done some remarkable things in two years,” Kellogg began. “I think we’ve risen the bar for our program. You can tell with the attendance increase and the media coverage and all you guys are here today. There’s a few more than even a year ago.
“We must be doing something right.”
In truth, Kellogg has done just about everything right.
The problem for Baker is if some local sportswriter can recognize Kellogg’s impact, rest assured that athletic directors in the Big Ten, ACC and the SEC can do the same.
So, before the ink is even dry on that new men’s basketball contract, Baker has got to cozy up to Kellogg and get to work on an extension that would make it extremely tempting for Kellogg to want to finish out his career in Morgantown.
We do have some details here. Kellogg earned a total compensation of $575,000 this season, plus incentives. He is set to make $600,000 next season.
His incentives this season were worth an extra $70,000, making his total compensation this season just shy of $650,000.
Now, that’s not exactly table scraps. In comparison, Kellogg’s base salary of $500,000 is $100,000 more than what North Carolina head coach Courtney Banghart earns, although Banghart’s supplemental compensation takes her total yearly salary in the neighborhood of $1 million per season.
Tennessee just signed Kim Caldwell — a coach WVU took a look at before hiring Kellogg in 2023 — and pays her an annual salary of $750,000 per year, plus incentives, over five years.
So, it’s not like WVU is a king’s ransom away from having Kellogg’s salary in a comparative fashion to schools he has the Mountaineers competing with.
Yet it does come up short, and short is not where Baker wants to be when Kellogg’s name eventually does come up for other positions.
After winning 50 games and going to two NCAA tournaments over his first two seasons with the Mountaineers, Kellogg has certainly put himself in the conversation as being a hot commodity.
“I never set out, I guess, necessarily saying we need to win 25 or I was going to try to win 50 in the first two years,” Kellogg said. “It was, how can we leave a mark? How can I put in a style and system and develop this culture with great character kids and staff that allows us to do that?
“That’s really all it is for me. I’m just loving this right now, because I get to go to work every day. I’m watching the team achieve essentially at the highest level. We’ve done some remarkable things in two years.”
