Derek Kellogg’s first pitch had to rank among his finest.
He was change, where it wasn’t clear change was needed. He was foreign, where familiar long had resided.
Jack Perri, who helped construct LIU Brooklyn’s dynasty at the beginning of the decade, had just posted the best record of his five-year head-coaching tenure and led the Blackbirds to just their fourth 20-win season of the past 19 years. When he was unexpectedly fired in March, the job remained unfilled for a month, making each passing day feel like whatever plan the university had in mind wasn’t in motion.
The program didn’t need to be rebuilt — only the trust did.
Kellogg pointed to the past to sell the future — using his playing days at Massachusetts alongside Marcus Camby in the Elite Eight, coaching years alongside John Calipari at Memphis and nine years leading UMass — and clear the blur from the Blackbirds’ eyes.
“The one good thing for me is my résumé, and I threw the credentials out there in a way to bring some credibility to who I am, and what I’m doing” said Kellogg, who was hired in April as Perri’s successor. “Kids always challenge your résumé, and want to know where you’ve been and what you’ve done. I played at the highest level. I coached the No. 1 pick in the draft [Derrick Rose], the NBA MVP. I worked for Calipari and Jim Larranaga. I’ve taken a team to No. 1 RPI in the county, and a top-25 recruiting class at UMass.
“I thought all the guys were pretty open-minded of bringing my style to LIU, and my No. 1 positive about me as a coach is I bring energy every day and an upbeat attitude. The kids today respond if you’re in it with them. They liked my message and what I was bringing to the table.”
Joel Hernandez was one of the few players Kellogg had seen before arriving, but the fifth-year senior wasn’t sure he wanted to come back to LIU.
“It was my last year, so I wanted to make sure I was in the best possible situation I could be in, so that was an option, me leaving,” Hernandez said. “He told me how good we could be if everyone stayed, and I liked what Coach Kellogg had going for us.
“We feed off his energy. He’s a loud coach, and he gets us going. It gets us fired up. We needed that.”
The Blackbirds, picked sixth in the Northeast Conference’s preseason poll, are now peaking and have won seven of their past nine games — including a victory over first-place Wagner — moving within one game of second place.
Hernandez, who averaged a then-best 12.2 points as a junior two seasons ago, is currently the second-leading scorer in the conference (20.4 points) and ranks among the nation’s top 35 scorers. He also is averaging a career-best 6.6 rebounds and hitting 37.5 percent of 3-pointers, after making 27.4 percent in his previous three seasons.
The 6-foot-3 guard, from Teaneck, N.J., who suffered a season-ending injury in last year’s season-opener, this week was named winner of the Lou Henson Award, given to the best mid-major player in the country.
“I just want to prove something to everybody,” Hernandez said. “Coming up from my freshman year, I wasn’t really looked at as one of the top players, but I felt like talent-wise I was up there. I’m very confident in my game. I’m not cocky, but I know the work I put in, and I know I’m one of the best players in the conference.
“I feel like if I didn’t get hurt, maybe I wouldn’t have the season I’m having this year.”
If Hernandez didn’t get hurt, maybe Kellogg wouldn’t be here.
Kellogg had long discussed moving to Manhattan with his New York-native wife, Nicole, but never intended doing so until their 9-year-old son, Max, was out of the house. Moving away from UMass — where the couple met, and where Kellogg, a Massachusetts native, had spent nearly a third of his life — wasn’t a consideration, until his alma mater made the decision for him, firing him in March.
So, Kellogg sold himself on a new vision that he soon shared with his players.
“Pretty quickly, I was able to turn the page, and really take on this challenge, and feel good about where we were and where things could be headed,” Kellogg said. “Honestly, what better place to do it than New York? It’s the epicenter of everything. There’s still some emotional ties to UMass. I think there’s still some hard feelings about some different things, but we had a great nine years, and I had a great career there as a player, but life moves on. Sad to say, every great story has an ending, and it’s good that we landed on our feet as a family, and as a coach.
“I think we can make some noise in this New York metropolitan area as a team that people are going to want to come watch play and be excited about. That’s right around the corner. That’s not far away.”
Games of the Week
St. John’s vs. Marquette (Saturday, Noon)
The Big East’s last-place team is the last opponent anyone wants to see right now. After 11 straight losses, the Red Storm have redefined their season, producing previously unthinkable back-to-back wins over No. 4 Duke and No. 1 Villanova, behind the brilliance of Shamorie Ponds. St. John’s split its two meetings with Marquette last season.
Seton Hall at Xavier (Wednesday, 9 p.m.)
Which version of Kevin Willard’s kids will show up in Cincinnati? The up-and-down Pirates are coming off consecutive losses for just the second time this season, and now have to play the No. 5 team in the nation, which has won seven straight games and took the Jan. 20 meeting, 73-64.
LIU Brooklyn at St. Francis Brooklyn (Thursday, 7 p.m.)
The Brooklyn rivals are both peaking and meet twice in one week. Despite gloomy preseason predictions, both teams are in position to finish as high as the No. 2 seed in the Northeast Conference tournament. The Blackbirds have won seven of their past nine games, while the Terriers have won five of their past seven.
Local Power Poll
1. Seton Hall
Record: 17-7, 6-5
Up next: Saturday (4 p.m.) at Georgetown
2. St. John’s
Record: 12-13, 1-11
Up next: Saturday (Noon) vs. Marquette
3. Rutgers
Record: 12-14, 2-11
Up next: Saturday (4 p.m.) at Nebraska
4. Iona
Record: 15-10, 9-4
Up next: Saturday (Noon) at St. Peter’s
5. Wagner
Record: 18-6, 11-2
Up next: Sunday (2 p.m.) at Fairleigh Dickinson
6. Hofstra
Record: 15-10, 8-5
Up next: Saturday (7 p.m.) at UNC-Wilmington
7. Manhattan
Record: 11-14, 6-7
Up next: Saturday (7 p.m.) vs. Monmouth
8. LIU Brooklyn
Record: 13-13, 8-5
Up next: Saturday (4:30 p.m.) vs. Robert Morris
9. Army
Record: 13-11, 6-7
Up next: Saturday (1:30 p.m.) vs. Navy
10. St. Peter’s
Record: 10-14, 4-9
Up next: Saturday (Noon) vs. Iona