OUNGSTOWN, OH- Youngstown State University men’s assistant basketball coach Derek Kellogg has resigned his position at YSU, Penguins head basketball coach John Robic announced on Tuesday.

Kellogg, who spent one season at YSU, was recommended to the Tennessee State Board of Regents by new Memphis head coach John Calipari for an assistant coaching position, but the school is still awaiting final approval.

Kellogg played for Calipari at Massachusetts from 1992-95, where was a four-year letter winner and a three-year starter. He helped guide the Minutemen to four straight Atlantic 10 titles and four straight NCAA tournament appearances.

"I am sorry to see Derek leave because he did a tremendous job for our program," said Robic. "He did the job that we thought he could do when we hired him. It’s an opportunity to work for John (Calipari) and an opportunity that he and I knew he could not pass up."

The native of Springfield, Massachusetts was hired last May when Robic took over at Youngstown State. Prior to leaving, Kellogg assisted in bringing in a total of seven new players to the YSU basketball program.

Prior to joining the staff at YSU, Kellogg was an assistant at George Mason from 1997-99. In 1998-99, Kellogg helped guide the Patriots to a 19-11 record and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

In 1996-97, Kellogg was a graduate assistant at Massachusetts.

ohn Calipari has again dipped into the University of Massachusetts men's basketball fraternity, adding Derek Kellogg as an assistant coach to his staff at Memphis.

Kellogg, a 1995 UMass graduate and former team captain, left Youngstown State, where he was an assistant to John Robic last year. The former Cathedral High School star has also coached at George Mason, and had been considered for an opening at UMass this spring.

He could not be reached for comment, but his father, George, confirmed the move last night. Kellogg will join Memphis as a third assistant, and will reunite with Calipari and assistant coach Tony Barbee, who left UMass to join the Tigers.

Both Barbee and Kellogg left jobs with former Calipari assistants at UMass to join the Memphis program this year. Barbee resigned from Bruiser Flint's Minutemen staff in March.

Kellogg was considered a candidate for a UMass opening this spring, assuming two spots would be open. That would have allowed Flint to hire a strong recruiting presence for one spot, and Kellogg, who is somewhat unproven in that area, for the other.

But when UMass associate coach Geoff Arnold was turned down for the Hartford job, and only Barbee's opening remained, Kellogg's chances at UMass faded. Chucky Martin, an assistant at Manhattan with recruiting contacts in New York City, is the frontrunner for the job.

At Memphis, Barbee is a key recruiter, but Kellogg's responsibilities in that area will be limited.

But Kellogg's coaching has received strong reviews at both Youngstown State and at George Mason, where he was part of a staff whose team reached the 1999 NCAA tournament.

Memphis' first game will be a Nov. 17 home contest against Temple, reuniting former Atlantic 10 coaching rivals Calipari and John Chaney.

At UMass, in the meantime, Flint technically has more players than scholarships with the signing of Willie Jenkins, who was recommended to UMass by Barbee.

Jenkins, a 6-6 swingman from Memphis, appeared headed for junior college until he became academically eligible. He contacted Memphis, which was set at his position, and Barbee suggested he call UMass.

Jenkins is the sixth signed recruit for a program that had only five open scholarships. But neither forward Raheim Lamb of Boston English nor point guard Anthony Anderson of Lynn English have qualified academically, and it has begun appearing increasingly unlikely that both will do so.

If either does not, a spot would open up this year. A non-qualifier can attend the school and become eligible as a sophomore, but during his ineligible freshman season, he does not count against the scholarship limit.

Flint admitted that if both Lamb and Anderson became eligible, it would present a problem — 14 signed players and 13 scholarships — that would not be easily solved. But he did not think that was likely to happen.

Jenkins is considered to have a good outside shooting touch. That's a trait badly needed on a UMass team that has relied heavily on Monty Mack.