oungstown State will not be the Midwest branch office of the University of Massachusetts men's basketball program. It just looks that way.

After former UMass assistant coach John Robic accepted the head coaching position at YSU, Minuteman guard Rafael Cruz opted to transfer and become a Penguin.

Thursday, former Minuteman guard Derek Kellogg was hired as an assistant coach at Youngstown, as Robic rounded out his staff.

"I am really excited to get going," Kellogg said in a press release issued by Youngstown. "We have a great opportunity to get YSU on top and get to the NCAA Tournament."

Robic was an assistant coach at UMass during Kellogg's playing career that ended in 1995.

After serving as a commentator on UMass radio broadcasts during the 1996-97 season, Kellogg coached two seasons at George Mason, where he helped lead the Patriots to the NCAA Tournament this year.

Ex-Coppin State assistant coach and player Eric Skeeters also was hired by the Penguins, while Robic retained current YSU assistant Gary Grzesk.

"I think I have put together a staff that will work really hard and the energy level will be at a premium," Robic said in the press release. "We have the ability to establish a great player-coach relationship. It is the most important thing to have good team unity. We want our players to trust us.

"I wanted guys that will work hard and try to get the best student-athletes," Robic added. "They all have good recruiting ties. They are people that I can trust and are loyal. I want all my guys to move on someday, but the thing I liked about this group is that they all want to be here."

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Due to the Atlantic 10 Conference's perennial late release of the conference schedule, it still will be a while before the full UMass men's basketball slate is known, but the University of Miami has announced that the Minutemen will take part in the Orange Bowl Classic on Dec. 18 as part of a triple-header in Miami.

The Minutemen will take on Florida State, while Miami faces North Carolina. St. Bonaventure will play Florida International.

UMass will travel from Miami to the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic, an event that also includes North Carolina-Charlotte, Boston College, Tulsa, Illinois Chicago, Southern Illinois, Tennessee, and a team from Puerto Rico.

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With Nick Macarchuk leaving Fordham to take the job at Stony Brook Thursday, three new coaches will join the Atlantic 10. Ricky Stokes has replaced Bobby Hussey at Virginia Tech and Jerry DeGregorio took over for Jim Harrick at Rhode Island.

OUNGSTOWN, OH- Youngstown State University head coach John Robic has announced his coaching staff for the 1999-2000 season.

Robic has added two new coaches to the fold and kept one from the former staff. Eric Skeeters from Coppin State and Derek Kellogg from George Mason are two new members of the Penguin staff. Current YSU assistant coach Gary Grzesk has been retained by Robic and will be entering his fourth season in the program.

"I wanted guys that will work hard and try to get the best student-athletes," said Robic. "They all have good recruiting ties. They are people that I can trust and are loyal. I want all my guys to move on someday, but the thing I liked about this group is they all want to be here."

Skeeters spent three years as an assistant coach at Coppin State. In his first three seasons at Coppin, he helped guide the Eagles to a 58-30 mark, winning two regular season Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championships and earning a bid to the 1997 NCAA Tournament, where the Eagles upset No. 2 seed South Carolina.

Prior to joining the staff at Coppin, Skeeters served as an assistant at national high school power, St. Frances Academy. While at St. Francis, Skeeters helped guide the Panthers to the Baltimore Catholic League championship and a No. 14 national ranking by USA Today.

The native of Baltimore, Maryland, received his bachelor's degree in marketing from Coppin in 1997.

Kellogg, 25, spent two seasons at George Mason under Jim Larranaga where the Patriots went 19-11 last season, losing to Cincinnati, 72-48, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In 1996-97, Kellogg spent one season as a graduate assistant at UMass.

"I am really excited to get going," said Kellogg. "We have a great opportunity to get YSU on top and get to the NCAA Tournament."

A 1995 graduate of UMass, Kellogg played for Robic, while he was an assistant at UMass. Kellogg was a four-year letter winner and three-year starter for the Minutemen. He helped guide his team to four straight Atlantic-10 titles and finished his career ranked fourth on the school=s all-time three-point list (138) and assists (453), fifth in three point percentage (38.1) and ninth in steals (134).

"I think I have put together a staff that will work really hard and the energy level will be at a premium," said Robic. "We have the ability to establish a great player-coach relationship. It is the most important thing to having good team unity. We want our players to trust us."