Ronald A. Kellogg Jr. (born December 19, 1962 in
Omaha, NebraskaOmaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
) is a retired
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
college and professional
basketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player, best known for his college days as a left-handed sharpshooter for the successful
Larry BrownLawrence Harvey "Larry" Brown is an American basketball coach and former player. He most recently served as head coach of the National Basketball Association's Charlotte Bobcats....
-coached
Kansas JayhawksThe University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
teams of the mid-1980s. Though he graduated one season before the NCAA implemented the
three-point field goalA three-point field goal is a field goal in a basketball game, made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc radiating from the basket...
, his propensity for sinking deep two-pointers earned him a reputation as one of the premier long-range shooters of his era in the
Big Eight ConferenceThe Big Eight Conference, a former NCAA-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football, was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association by its charter member schools: the University of Kansas, University of Missouri, University...
. A 6’5” (1.96 m) swingman, he was drafted by the
Atlanta HawksThe Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are part of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association .-The first years:...
of the
NBAThe National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
and played professionally in the
CBAThe Continental Basketball Association was a professional men's basketball league in the United States, which has been on hiatus since the 2009 season.- History :...
.
College
Kellogg enrolled at Kansas in 1982 after a standout career at Northwest High School in Omaha, where he was a three-time all-state selection and was recruited by over 150 colleges before choosing KU over
IowaThe University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
,
ColoradoThe University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
, Nebraska, and
CreightonCreighton University is a private, coeducational, Jesuit, Roman Catholic university located in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the school is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. The university is accredited by...
. He played sparingly as a freshman under head coach
Ted OwensTed Owens is an American college basketball coach. He was the coach of the University of Kansas men's basketball team from 1964 to 1983. He is the third-winningest coach in Jayhawks basketball history....
, averaging 3.9 points on 41.0% shooting from the field in just over ten minutes per game. Though he showed only modest improvement as a sophomore in 1983-84, averaging 6.1 points per game on 43.4% shooting, the departure of Owens and the arrival of Brown prior to that season marked the beginning of a basketball revival on the Jayhawk campus.
As a junior in 1984-85, Kellogg was plugged into the starting small forward position opposite heralded freshman Danny ManningDaniel Ricardo "Danny" Manning is a retired American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association. He is an assistant basketball coach at his alma mater, the University of Kansas Jayhawks. Manning won the National Championship with the Jayhawks in 1988 as a player, and...
, giving the Jayhawks a highly productive combination at forward. Kellogg would thrive in the starting role, leading the team in scoring at 17.6 points per game on 57.6% shooting – an extremely high percentage for a perimeter player, especially given his significant number of field goal attempts from what today would be three-point territory. During one memorable stretch of Saturday games that season, he scored 30 points against Wichita StateWichita State University is a NCAA Division I public university in Wichita, Kansas with selective admissions. WSU is one of six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The current president is Dr. Donald Beggs....
, 31 against Colorado, 39 against Nebraska, 34 against Memphis StateThe University of Memphis is an American public research university located in the Normal Station neighborhood of Memphis, Tennessee and is the flagship public research university of the Tennessee Board of Regents system....
, and 34 against OklahomaThe University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
. According to Kellogg, his performance in the Nebraska game, in which he hit 16 of his 19 shots from the field and all seven of his free throws en route to establishing a new Devaney Center scoring record, was inspired when “[m]y ex-girlfriend walked in[to the arena] with her boyfriend. That kind of teed me off. I wanted to prove a point after I saw that.” Meanwhile, his exploits in KU’s 82-76 upset victory over Oklahoma, which included 14-of-19 shooting from the field and seven of his team’s final 11 points in the last 1:53, were chronicled in a feature article in the March 4, 1985 issue of Sports IllustratedSports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
entitled “Kellogg Went Snap! Crackle! Pop!” (an allusion to the popular Kellogg's-brand Rice KrispiesRice Krispies is a breakfast cereal that was created by Clayton Rindlisbacher for the Kellogg company, and later marketed by Kellogg's in 1927 and released to the public in 1928...
breakfast cereal). Although the Jayhawks were eliminated by AuburnAuburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
in the second round of the NCAA tournament, Kellogg’s scoring feats earned him a selection to the All-Big Eight first team. He was also awarded All-District 5 honors by the USBWAThe United States Basketball Writers Association was founded in 1956 by Walter Byers and serves the interests of journalists who cover college basketball.-Scholarships:...
and, following the season, was named to the U.S. men's basketball team at the 1985 World University Games.
Kellogg’s senior year in 1985-86 proved to be one of the most successful seasons in Kansas basketball history. With "Special K" moving to shooting guard alongside fellow Omaha native Cedric HunterCedric R. Hunter is an American professional basketball player. He was a 6'0" 180 lb point guard and played collegiately at the University of Kansas....
, and Manning joined in the frontcourt by 7'1" future NBA pivotman Greg DreilingGregory Alan Dreiling is a retired American professional basketball player. A 7'1" center who attended Wichita State University and later transferred and graduated from the University of Kansas, he was selected by the Indiana Pacers in the second round of the 1986 NBA Draft...
, the versatile Calvin Thompson, and super-sub Archie Marshall, the Jayhawks boasted one of the most talented lineups in the country. The team did not disappoint, rolling to a 35-4 record and earning a trip to the 1986 Final FourThe 1986 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1986, and ended with the championship game on March 31 in Dallas, Texas...
in Dallas, where they suffered a 71-67 defeat at the hands of DukeDuke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
. Despite the loss, Kellogg played well in his final career game, engaging in a scoring duel with Blue Devil star Johnny Dawkins-External links:*...
and keeping the Jayhawks in the game with 22 points on 11-of-15 shooting. Kellogg finished the season as the team’s second-leading scorer behind Manning at 15.9 points per game on 55.2% field goal shooting, and was again selected to the All-Big Eight first team. He concluded his Jayhawk career with 1,508 points, a total which currently places him 17th on KU’s all-time scoring list.
Professional
Following his career at Kansas, Kellogg was selected in the second round of the
1986 NBA Draft-Drug and health issues involving drafted players:There were various drug-related problems that plagued players in the 1986 NBA draft. Most notable was the death of highly-touted Len Bias. Bias died less than two days after being selected second overall by the defending champion Boston Celtics. His...
, going to the Atlanta Hawks with the 42nd overall pick. He was traded to the
Los Angeles LakersThe Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
in a draft-day deal, but failed to make the Lakers roster and never appeared in an NBA game. He signed on with the Topeka Sizzlers of the
Continental Basketball AssociationThe Continental Basketball Association was a professional men's basketball league in the United States, which has been on hiatus since the 2009 season.- History :...
, where he would be reunited with former KU teammates Thompson and Hunter. During his second season with the Sizzlers, his teammates also included former KU and
Boston CelticsThe Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
star
Jo Jo WhiteJoseph Henry "Jo Jo" White is an American former professional basketball player.-Life and career:White was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of a minister...
, who was 41 years old at the time, and troubled ex-
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
playground legend
Lloyd "Swee'pea" DanielsLloyd Daniels is a retired American professional and semi-professional basketball player.The 6'7" shooting guard was one of the most sought-after recruits in the nation during the 1986-87 recruiting cycle. At the time, he was considered the most talented player from New York City since Kareem...
. After leaving the CBA, Kellogg pursued a career in business and now resides with his family in Omaha.
Legacy
Kellogg’s claim to fame was his silky left-handed jump shot, which netted him a reputation as the best shooter in Nebraska prep history and one of the greatest ever to wear a Jayhawk uniform. When the Omaha World-HeraldThe Omaha World-Herald, based in Omaha, Nebraska, is the primary daily newspaper of Nebraska, as well as portions of southwest Iowa. For decades it circulated daily throughout Nebraska, and in parts of Kansas, South Dakota, Missouri, Colorado and Wyoming. In 2008, distribution was reduced to the...
asked four scouts to recall Kellogg's game as part of a 2008 retrospective, each of them responded with the same two words: "incredible shooter." This sentiment is shared by Chuck Woodling of the Lawrence Journal-WorldThe Lawrence Journal-World is a daily newspaper published in Lawrence, Kansas by The World Company.-History:Though the Journal-World title only came into existence in 1911, according to the volume number of the current masthead of the paper, the paper dates itself back to 1858.The Simons family...
, who claims that “in nearly four decades of watching KU basketball players I’ve never seen a more accurate shooter than Ron Kellogg.” Kansas head coach Bill SelfBill Self is an American college men's basketball coach at the University of Kansas, where he led the Jayhawks to the 2008 NCAA national championship....
, a graduate assistant on the 1985-86 KU team, recalls a shooting drill at practice in which the players would launch 30 to 35 jump shots from the elbow within a five-minute span. As Self recalled, "On the fourth day we ran it, Ronnie finally missed one. Do you hear me? He went three consecutive days in a rapid-fire shooting drill without missing!"
During his KU career, both Kellogg's basketball talents and his colorful persona were the subject of entertaining writeups in Sports Illustrated. In the magazine's 1985-86 college basketball preview, he was characterized as “a streak shooter who gets so worked up when he's hot that he sometimes forgets the score, the time remaining and the law of averages. . . . [He] thinks he's open even when someone's hanging on his arms.” His shot selection was summarized courtesy of coach Larry Brown: "I'm always yelling, ‘No! No! . . . Great shot!’” In another column, he was labeled a “born flake” who, during a critical time-out in a game against Memphis State his junior year, allegedly told a bewildered Brown, “Coach, we need to fix the whirlpool.” The magazine later reported that Kellogg, along with fellow seniors Thompson and Dreiling, showed up for his final home game at Allen Fieldhouse wearing a tuxedo.
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