Sports

COLUMN: Mark Kellogg is entering this season with a different skip in his step

MORGANTOWN — Mark Kellogg has got the goods.

To be sure, that's not what the WVU women's basketball coach said Thursday, as the Mountaineers held their first media session of the preseason. Kellogg simply isn't that boastful or bold.

But, as Kellogg spoke, there just became a sense that this is the most confident he's ever been at WVU in September with the start of the regular season still six weeks away.

Maybe it's the new contract. Kellogg begins this season having signed a contract extension that could possibly run through 2033-34 and is worth a bump in pay of $100,000 - up to a total of $800,000, not including incentives and a retention bonus - for this season.

Then again, that's probably not it. It's his roster. Normally, Kellogg is more of a poker player when it comes to this time of the year. Sure, he's had some really good hands in the past. A couple of aces, maybe a decent three-of-a-kind, but he would never really let you know it.

Now, he's not exactly predicting a Big 12 or national championship, but he's not exactly holding his cards close to his vest, either.

"We have talent. I think there's some really good pieces in the room when we're together," he said.

The most exciting part: This roster just may present the most length and size than any of the previous 52 WVU teams had before it.

"We probably have had more blocked shots in one week of practice than we did all of last season," Kellogg said with a smile, but probably not exaggerating by too much.

Players like Khyala Ngodu, Hawa Doumbouya and Skylar Forbes should become recognizable names this season if the Mountaineers are to take another step up the ladder in the ranks of women's basketball.

All of them are 6-foot-3 or taller - Doumbouya is 6-7 - and they all will bring something a little different to WVU than Kellogg has presented before.

Why did Kellogg go in this direction?

"Because all of (the media) kept asking about it and the fans kept messaging us," Kellogg joked.

Blended around that size is returning guard Gia Cooke, an all-Big 12 performer from last season, and a host of new names that Kellogg believes will contribute.

"Divine Tumba is going to be a really good player for us, too. Really good," Kellogg said of the redshirt freshman transfer from Pitt. "You're going to be surprised when you see Divine and her level of athleticism and what she can do with the basketball."

Throw it all together, Kellogg has but two returning players from last season's 28-7 team that won the Big 12 tournament and hosted an NCAA regional. One of those players - guard Madison Parrish - didn't see a whole lot of playing time last season.

He's got 10 new names to his roster, which are 10 players looking to add to the momentum that's been created over Kellogg's first three seasons.

Normally, that's a recipe for disaster, especially at a school like WVU, which is desperately seeking to work its way into the elite of women’s hoops programs, but is still on the outside peering in.

True, WVU has taken a step closer each season under Kellogg. Being ranked in the Top 25 is no longer a big deal. If the Mountaineers were to fall out of the rankings, that would actually be the story now.

Taking those final few steps to ultimately reach that top plateau can seemingly be crater-sized more than just a normal step. To accomplish it means you absolutely have the right coach, competitive facilities, good financial resources for NIL and on down the line.

Maybe, just maybe WVU is in that spot. That's what stood out the most as Kellogg spoke on Thursday. Those 10 new players he signed into the program, they're not here simply because WVU was their best option or closest option or whatever.

They're not here to simply maintain the current level. Kellogg's message on Thursday was WVU's level of recruiting has eked into a level of elevation and that expectations are not going to fall.

"That's the standard now," Kellogg said. "It's new and it's different, but it's so much more now about what does it take to do that? What's the daily process when we win? How do we react when we lose? Those are the things we probably focus on more than anything.

"But, when you get your program to a standard, there does become an expectation. Will we get there? Time will tell, but the bar has been raised."