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MORGANTOWN -- It was deja vu all over again at the Coliseum.
Exactly one year to the day since announcing Dawn Plitzuweit as its new women's basketball coach -- April 5 -- West Virginia introduced Mark Kellogg as her replacement, Plitzuweit having done the one-and-done thing as she eloped to Minnesota.
You'd think, this being the third head coach in three years for WVU women's basketball, that they'd have gotten it right, but there was a major glitch in the sound system at the Coliseum, the volume not high enough for the 150 or so gathered fans welcoming the new coach. What could be heard up in the seats was more of an echo chamber than a public address system.
Shame, too, because the day had all the same trappings that Plitzuweit had … an entry into the Coliseum through a portal of gold and blue balloons, a walk with family down the carpet that had been rolled out for the occasion, five members of the brass section of the Pep Band and a group of bouncy cheerleaders doing their thing.
The big difference, of course, was that there was a new athletic director on hand in Wren Baker, who had reached back to someone he had hired before at Northwest Missouri State.
One of the first things we learned after Kellogg took the podium is that he and his wife, Tricia, and two children have a sign in their living room.
"We interrupt this marriage for basketball season."
That is his approach. Kellogg looks for balance in life, but he understands that basketball is what it has to center upon.
He seems to have everything in order and knows what he is and where he is going.
So does his wife, who was shedding tears as Kellogg spoke from the podium.
"We try to incorporate my wife and our children into our basketball program and our players' lives," he went on. "We want balance, but I don't want it to be balance where you have to pick between the two. Why not just gel and put it all together?"
His success at Stephen F. Austin over the past seven years has established his credentials in the women's game. offering up an exciting style of play.
This is a big step up for Kellogg in his coaching career, and he says a lot of people have approached him and asked, "Why West Virginia?"
His response is straightforward.
"Why not WVU?" he answers. "I almost take it personal. This place is so special. It's been so special and has such a history on both sides of the basketball programs. To me, that's unique. It is the flagship university of the state, and I have not been a part of that. To recruit to the flying WV. That is a national brand, and that excites me to recruit players to this level and win championships.
"They call this place 'Almost Heaven.' Who wouldn't want to live in Almost Heaven? That's a pretty cool thing."
He noted that both his parents grew up on a farm in central Missouri. His parents were blue collar, hard-working educators. He said hard work was instilled in him since Day 1.
"Hard work will get you somewhere," he said, a comment that seemed to be directed to the number of his new players in the arena. "We just grind. We worked really hard to get this opportunity."
It got him to two national championship games at a lower level.
"The vision for this program has come up," he said. "We will work tirelessly to make you proud. We want high character in our program."
His style of basketball is meant to inspire his players and their fans.
"We will play fast," he vowed. "I know Press Virginia has been a thing around here on the men's side. It will be here a little bit on the women's side as well. We led the nation (Stephen F. Austin) in turnovers forced, we (were) typically in the top 15 in that category. We will get after them and we will play fast. It's a fun system to watch.
"We want to keep teams off balance. We'll play man, we'll play zone, just to keep the offense off balance as much as we can."
And offense?
"We will let that defense create that offense. That's when you are at your best, get out in the open floor. We use a football term -- pick six. That's throw the interception and run it back for a touchdown. I want pick sixes -- bait them into a pass, go steal it and go lay it up.
"Then, soon as we score, we're pressing your butt."
It sounds like he wants to go 100 miles an hour and may be able to do it on the basketball court, but Wren Baker had a warning for him.
"I told him the people here are incredible, but the roads need some help," Baker said.
Baker has become a West Virginian in a hurry, and it seems as though Kellogg will do the same.