Kellogg

MORGANTOWN — The year 1968 was one of revolution, yes, and just as much so a year of evolution; so much so that it has been dubbed “The Year That Changed The World.”

There was political unrest and assassination, the war in Vietnam tearing the country apart, civil rights protests and violence, it all leading to a head-on collision between riots and patriots. It was a time of rebellion and rock ‘n’ roll with the emergence of Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix, while at the same time, we were racing toward the moon and protesting at the Olympics.

At the same time, not quite causing the same type of blip on the public’s radar considering the magnitude of what had the world spinning out of control, a cigarette advertising campaign was born merging tobacco sales with the women’s movement, Virginia Slim’s being sold with the slogan “You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby.”

It proved to be the words that pushed the women’s movement forward into a new decade, then a new century and even today, the latest aspect of it being fought out on basketball courts across America as the game of women’s basketball continues to soar.

Certainly, what has happened with the sport here in West Virginia at the state university has come along for the rise and even a second-round defeat to North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament could not disguise or discourage the forward momentum coach Mark Kellogg, star guard JJ Quinerly and the rest of the team could create in a 25-win season.

Yes, they have come a long way, baby, as Kellogg acknowledged in the ashes of a difficult defeat to accept … not because they had lost but because this played so far beneath the level of excellence it had injected into the program.

He spoke of how this group of seniors was leaving a legacy, leaving things better than what they had found awaiting them upon their arrival in Morgantown.

“We’ve had a heck of a run. We’ve had a great season,” Kellogg began. “Did we fall a little short in some of our goals? Yes, we did, but that’s sport. That’s life. In this tournament in particular, only one team is going to finish with a win, and we’re not going to be that one. Like I said, I couldn’t be more proud. Special group of players.”

“To me two years ago when I got the job, you have a vision, you try to paint a picture, and you hope that those current players, which these two to my right were a part of that roster, would of course stay and ultimately buy into what we were doing,” he continued.

“They did that. They’ve been so much fun to coach. We have a great environment. We’ve changed the way I think our program has been looked at. We’ve been a perennial top-25 team. Our attendance numbers have kind of shot through the roof. We have great players, staff, and administrators, just to do something really, really special.”

“I hope we can continue to build off of it, use this as a growing pain for those that are coming back. Again, super proud of them. Proud to be the coach of some really, really talented individuals.”

When you think of just how far they have come, perhaps you may go back to about the time the slogan for Virginia Slims came out. There was no women’s basketball at West Virginia and the progress was slow, despite the efforts put into creating the sport by the late Kittie Blakemore.

By the time the 1990s were about to turn to the new century, the team had improved, and the sport had grown, but it was nothing like it is now. In 2000, as the Coliseum was closed to rid the building of asbestos, the team played its home games at Morgantown High, went through a pair of years when they went 6-22 and 5-22, including a 100-28 home loss to UConn, the reigning giant in the game then.

Mike Carey came on the scene and changed the expectations of WVU’s women’s basketball, coaching 17 years and winning 441 games. There was a better brand of basketball, competitive, but it never peaked, attendance normally pushing 2,500 but no more.

Now, Kellogg’s brand of aggressive defensive basketball in a competitive Big 12 conference has raised the excitement level to the point that this year attendance has swelled to more than 4,000 per home game, turning the Morgantown arena into a place where the game was fun and the expectations high.

“It’s fun to show up to work every day when you have a staff and team like we’ve had the last couple years,” Kellogg said. “That’s part of coaching now is trying to sustain it. Kids graduate every single year, so that’s not abnormal. Finding scoring is typically okay. We’re going to lose some quality players, and we understand that.

“Now you go to the portal, I guess. That’s how you go about it at this point.”

The ladies who now roam the court learned much a year ago when their season ended in Iowa City facing the electrifying Caitlin Clarke and her Iowa Hawkeyes in an arena that showed just how the women’s game can take over a city and a nation, the women’s basketball final actually drawing more television viewers than the men.

This can be so much more than it has been and the players understand that.

Quinerly, in an age when players move freely from school to school, Quinerly stayed three through coaches to finish her career at WVU. Such loyalty spread through the team.

“Honestly, the group of girls that I had around me like Kyah Watson, Jayla Hemingway, those girls that stayed, Kylee Blacksten, those girls who stayed, especially Jordan Harrison, I could have left probably any time in my career and probably could have went anywhere in the country, but I chose to stay at West Virginia just to make that legacy that I told you all about earlier,” she said.

“Like I said, I think I’ve done that, and yeah.”

Kyah Watson, who closed out her career with a 15-rebound performance, echoed Quinerly’s comments.

“I would say that each year I was there was special. I can’t thank Coach Kellogg and the coaching staff enough. I love all of them. They’ve helped me grow as a person both on and off the court,” she said. “My teammates all my three years were great, and the fan base in West Virginia is awesome. They love us. We love them. I think just that, I’m going to miss that.”

And so, she will move on. Quinerly will move on. Whether Kellogg stays put has not yet been addressed but athletic director Wren Baker seems intent on keeping him because he understands the team has come a long way, baby, yet still has a long way to go.