Danes fill their last two spots
Kellogg III, Patel join Ualbany as scholarship players for 2022-23
The University at Albany men’s basketball team has given out its final scholarships.
Japannah Kellogg III, a power forward at University at Wisconsin Green Bay, and Sarju Patel, a shooting guard at Cornell, will both join coach Dwayne Killings’ team.
Their additions round out Ualbany’s 13 scholarship slots.
Ny’mire Little, Will Amica, Trey Hutcheson, Aaron Reddish, Justin Neely, Gerald Drumgoole and Sam Shafer all return from last season’s team. Tairi Ketner, who was a freshman walk-on last season, has also been awarded a scholarship after averaging 1.4 points and 1.1 rebounds in 4.7 minutes of play per game last season.
In addition to Patel and Kellogg, Division III Arcadia’s Da’kquan Davis and Merrimack point guard Malik Edmead have committed to transfer to Ualbany. Hudson Falls native Jonathan Beagle will be the lone scholarship freshman, and Albany Academy’s Marcus Jackson has committed as a preferred walk-on.
Kellogg, originally from Ames, Iowa, averaged 6.7 points and 4.0 rebounds per game last season, making 21 starts. The Phoenix went 5-25, 4-16 in Horizon League play, and Kellogg wanted to see where else he might fit.
He previously knew Ualbany assistant Hamlet Tibbs, who recruited the 6-foot-8, 190pound forward out of high school when Tibbs was at Vermont.
“When I entered the transfer portal, I was one of the guys he kept on his list and I’m grateful for that,” Kellogg said.
Kellogg also received interest from UC Davis, Winthrop and Tarleton State, but chose Ualbany because of the team culture.
“The relationship built with the coaches was really strong, and I could tell through experiencing how they interact with each other the trust and care everybody has for each other,” Kellogg said.
He also spoke with Hutcheson, whom he played against growing up. Hutcheson is from Marion, Iowa, about two hours away from Ames.
“All he did was reaffirm my observations and talked about how everybody is holding each other accountable and everybody is working to get to the tournament,” Kellogg said.
Kellogg said Killings spoke to him and his parents about the school investigation that found Killings had made inappropriate physical contact with a player in a pre-game hype circle in November.
“He addressed it to me and my parents, and he did it the right way. I respected the way he did it, and him acknowledging it because that’s obviously something that players see,” Kellogg said, declining to elaborate further.
Patel, who is 6-3, 170 pounds, said he didn’t ask Killings about the investigation.
“Once I met them, it sort of didn’t really matter. I don’t think I thought about it more than maybe 10 seconds,” he said. “When I met (Killings) I was like, this is an amazing guy.”
Patel started his playing career at Virginia Military Institute, his only Division I offer out of high school, and transferred to Cornell two years later. He had to sit out the 2019-20 season because of the transfer, and the Ivy League canceled the 2020-21 season because of COVID -19. In his only season for the Big Red, he started all 26 games, averaging 9.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.0 assists.
Patel was required to transfer to use his last season of eligibility because the Ivy League doesn’t allow graduate students to play.
Ualbany reached out to Patel while he was trying to decide between Marist and Chattanooga.
“They were sort of like, can we get on a Zoom and sort of pitch you,” Patel said. “Culturewise, fit-wise, need-wise, all that, it was very enticing to me.”
He visited Ualbany the following week and committed shortly thereafter.
“I think the most important thing for me was just the culture they have and have been trying to instill,” Patel said. “I think their number one priority is everyone being happy and together and confident and committed to it.”