Nick Kellogg chases coaching dream
There are bloodlines tying Nick Kellogg to the Ohio State men’s basketball program, but it was a more recent connection that brought him to the Buckeyes.
A prep standout at Columbus Desales, Kellogg enjoyed a four-year career at Ohio University leading into a multiyear professional career overseas. His path to the Bobcats was partially due to an assistant coach who recruited him but moved onto another job before Kellogg’s arrival in 2010.
His name was Chris Holtmann and now, 12 years later, the Ohio State coach has hired Kellogg as a member of his support staff. The son of program legend Clark Kellogg, Nick will serve as the new assistant to the head coach/ director of scouting after having spent the last two years as video coordinator for the NBA’S Milwaukee Bucks.
The decision to move from the professional level to the college ranks was one Kellogg said he made primarily due to his relationship with Holtmann.
“He actually reached out to me trying to gauge my interest, trying to see if it would be something I’d be open to hearing about,” Kellogg said. “As we continued to talk and talk about the position and the responsibilities and the value he thought I could add, it kind of lined up perfectly with what I want to do and with the experience I already had with the Bucks.”
Kellogg’s professional one came to a close as the COVID-19 pandemic began and he abruptly returned home from France. While back in the United States, Kellogg said he began to plan for a life after his playing career that would still involve basketball.
He called Shaka Smart, now the Marquette coach, about an opening he saw on his staff at Texas. The job had been filled, Smart said, but he put Kellogg in touch with contacts he had with the Boston Celtics and the Bucks. Kellogg interviewed with both and accepted the video coordinator job with Milwaukee.
It was his first foray into the coaching side of the game, but it wasn’t the first time he’d been approached. Years earlier, Holtmann pursued Kellogg.
“(During) his stint at Butler, he actually offered me a (graduate assistant) spot there so we talked quite a bit during one of those summers about potentially doing that,” he said. “From that point it was always checking in, seeing how I was doing and vice versa.”
There is an obvious emotional tie to the job as well for Kellogg, who said he would typically get to come home only during summer months in between seasons.
“It feels great to be close to my family (and) friends,” he said. “To be able to be a Buckeye and wear the scarlet and gray, it’s special.”