WVU women's basketball: Coach Mark Kellogg aims to build on early success

WVU's 50 wins in Kellogg's first two seasons are the third most in a two-year stretch in Mountaineers history.

Kellogg's first two WVU squads mark the first time that the Mountaineers have recorded back-to-back 25-win seasons.

"I don't think that's necessarily easily definable, but I do think there's some things that have happened, and you have to start with good talent," Kellogg said. "We [have] had good players. We inherited some pretty good players that bought in really early. Coaches talk about culture. We talk about family. A lot of that has to do with the character though that you surround yourself with. The locker room [has] had high character."

West Virginia went 25-8, including 13-5 in Big 12 play, in 2024-25. The Mountaineers earned a No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament, playing in the Chapel Hill Regional.

The sixth seed was two seeds higher than what WVU received in Kellogg's first season, as the Mountaineers were the No. 8 seed in the Des Moines Regional.

Now, Kellogg wants the Mountaineers to grow and build on the first two years as the Texas native heads into his third season in Morgantown.

"We're trying to kick down that door, the proverbial door, and advance once we get to the NCAA tournament," Kellogg said. "The biggest difference between Year One and Two was expectations. There weren't a lot placed on us early in our first year. The next steps for us [are], we need to get home games in the NCAA tournament. We've beefed up the nonconference schedule a little bit to, maybe, allow us to get a couple seeds higher.

"I can only imagine what it would be like if we were hosting NCAA tournament first- and second-round games here in Morgantown, where we've had a great home-court advantage."

The season ticket sales for WVU home games skyrocketed more than 70% heading into last season.

Kellogg is optimistic that percentage will continue growing as the Mountaineers continue to get better.

"'Connection' is the term that we use, and we have tried to connect with the community as much as we can," Kellogg said. "In women's athletics, it is very relational. It's about a connection between us and our fans or the little girls in our community or across the state. We have great players, and I want them to connect. But that's what we want. It's what we're working really hard for.

"The fans have made it an unbelievably difficult place to play for our opponents, and we feed off of that at a high clip."

Kellogg and his family arrived in West Virginia in 2023, when he replaced Dawn Plitzuweit. Plitzuweit spent one season at WVU before going to Big Ten country to coach Minnesota.

Kellogg came to WVU after eight seasons as the leader at Stephen F. Austin.

It's been a quick two years in Morgantown, but Kellogg has learned more reaffirmation than anything new about himself while at WVU.

"I don't know that it's necessarily new. It just reaffirms things that you already probably thought," Kellogg said. "There would've been some coming from the mid-major level when I was a Division II coach for 10 years. [Things like], 'How does it translate?' 'Can you translate?' 'Does our press and some of the things we do on the floor translate?' The off-the-court stuff of the values and the things that you want to emphasize and non-negotiables were not going to change."

Kellogg got his first head-coaching gig at Fort Lewis College in 2005, spending seven seasons there.

He went from there to Northwest Missouri State to West Texas A&M, then Stephen F. Austin.

Kellogg said his coaching philosophy hasn't taken a full 180-degree turn. However, his approach has changed with his players.

"I don't know that [my philosophy has] changed a whole lot," Kellogg said. "What changes is how you communicate [with] kids' generations. This is my 21st year as a head coach. Obviously, I've grown up too. Back in our day, you kind of yelled a little bit louder to get them to run through that wall. Now, they're not going to run through it until you give them a really good 'why.'

"If you can do [that], communicate with them and surround yourself with good coaches that can help do that, [then it'll work.] I've been blessed to have really good staff members."

West Virginia returns 50% of its scoring from a season ago, including three of its top four scorers returning in Jordan Harrison, Sydney Shaw and Jordan Thomas.

Kellogg and his staff, as of right now, have welcomed six new players to next season's roster.

"It's a different group," Kellogg said. "It's the first time I've ever had more newcomers than I've had returners -- other than when you take over for the first year -- in my career. So, that's a little bit different. It may end up being like eight new [players] and five returners. We have 11 here. So, [we're] still working on a couple to get them here before the year starts.

"I really like [this group]. We've got more depth than we've ever had here. We've got a little more ability to throw the ball inside than we've had. We haven't been a great rebounding team. This will be the best rebounding team that we've had."

Former Mountaineer JJ Quinerly became the 11th WVU player drafted into the WNBA when she was selected in the third round by the Dallas Wings.

Quinerly was a two-time Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and made the all-conference first team three times.

The former Mountaineer guard also became Kellogg's first drafted player.

"Her talent is obvious," Kellogg said. "She's a very talented basketball player, but she's worked extremely hard. I've called her my whole time here the unassuming superstar. She was quiet. You wouldn't always hear [her]. She wasn't the loudest voice. But she was going to work hard. She worked hard outside of just the practice time, which was really important. She played on both sides of the basketball. She's just a ballhawk on the defensive end.

"Then, when [she's] got the ball in her hands, she was a dynamic scorer. She was small but mighty."