Clark Clifton Kellogg Jr. (born July 2, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player who is the lead college basketball analyst for CBS Sports. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Indiana Pacers.

Clark Kellogg
Kellogg in 2023
Personal information
Born (1961-07-02) July 2, 1961 (age 63)
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
High schoolSt. Joseph (Cleveland, Ohio)
CollegeOhio State (1979–1982)
NBA draft1982: 1st round, 8th overall pick
Selected by the Indiana Pacers
Playing career1982–1987
PositionPower forward
Number33
Career history
19821987Indiana Pacers
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points4,918 (18.9 ppg)
Rebounds2,482 (9.5 rpg)
Assists764 (2.9 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Basketball career

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High school

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Clark "Special K" Kellogg grew up in East Cleveland, Ohio, attended Chambers Elementary, W.H. Kirk Middle School (both in East Cleveland), and St. Joseph High School in Cleveland, Ohio, and had a high school basketball career generally regarded as one of the finest in Cleveland history. The highlight was a 74–65 loss in the 1979 state championship game to Columbus East that saw Kellogg score 51 points and grab 24 rebounds.[1] His 51-point game is still an Ohio high school state finals record. Kellogg also played in the McDonald's All-American and Capital Classic games.

College

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From 1979 to 1982, Kellogg played for Ohio State University, where he earned All-Big Ten Conference and Most Valuable Player honors; in 1996, he received his marketing degree. In June 2010, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland appointed Kellogg to the university's board of trustees, where he sits today.[2]

In 1982, Kellogg declared for the NBA draft after his junior year of college and was a 1st round draft pick (8th overall) of the Indiana Pacers. In his first season, he was selected as a member of the NBA All-Rookie Team. He is one of only a handful of rookies in NBA history to average 20 points and 10 rebounds a game, having averaged 20.1 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game. Kellogg came in second place in NBA Rookie of the Year voting, losing to Terry Cummings, who is also one of the only four players to average 20 points and 10 rebounds in a rookie season and not make the Basketball Hall of Fame.[3] Following his rookie year success, Kellogg was much heralded as the next breakout NBA superstar. Converse signed him to an endorsement deal, to release his own Converse "Special K" sneaker. However, he only played three full seasons, and portions of two others, for the Pacers before chronic knee problems forced him to retire. During his three full seasons with the Pacers, the Pacers were a combined 68–178.

Personal life

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Kellogg has two sons, Clark (Alex) and Nick, and a daughter, Talisa. Alex played basketball for Providence College and Ohio University. Nick played basketball for Ohio University[4] and Talisa played Division I volleyball at Georgia Tech.

Kellogg became a Christian in 1985 after questioning his "purpose in life."[5] Kellogg has spoken about his faith saying, "...my faith remains my foundation. Christ is my all and the driver of my life."[6]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1982–83 Indiana 81 81 34.1 .479 .222 .741 10.6 2.8 1.7 0.5 20.1
1983–84 Indiana 79 79 33.9 .519 .333 .768 9.1 3.0 1.5 0.4 19.1
1984–85 Indiana 77 65 31.8 .505 .500 .760 9.4 3.2 1.1 0.3 18.6
1985–86 Indiana 19 12 29.9 .473 .308 .768 8.8 3.0 1.5 0.4 17.6
1986–87 Indiana 4 4 15.0 .364 .500 .750 2.8 1.5 1.3 0.0 5.0
Career 260 241 32.7 .497 .338 .757 9.5 2.9 1.5 0.4 18.9

Broadcasting career

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ESPN

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In 1989, he joined ESPN as a basketball analyst. He has also worked for the Big East Network and Prime Sports.

WTTV/FSN-Indiana

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Kellogg served as a television analyst for Indiana Pacers road games.

CBS Sports

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From 1993 to 1994, Kellogg served as a game analyst for the CBS Sports coverage of the NCAA tournament. From 1994 to 1997, he served as a studio co-host for the early round coverage of the NCAA Tournament. In 1997, Kellogg joined CBS Sports full-time as a studio/game analyst for college basketball coverage and was one of three in-studio hosts for March Madness along with Greg Gumbel and Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis. He would typically work as the #2 game analyst until around Championship Week when he would move into the studio for the remainder of the season. He is known for using the phrase "spurtability" as a reference to a team's ability to score points in quick succession.

Kellogg replaced Billy Packer as CBS' lead basketball game analyst beginning in the 2008–2009 college basketball season and called the 2009 NCAA men's basketball championship with Jim Nantz.[7] He also worked games at the beginning of the season with Verne Lundquist when Nantz was on other CBS Sports duties including the NFL and golf.[8]

In March 2010, Kellogg played a game of H.O.R.S.E. against U.S. President Barack Obama. The game, called "P.O.T.U.S." for the occasion, was won by Obama, who had P.O.T.U. to Kellogg's P.O.T.U.S.[9]

 
Kellogg with President Barack Obama in 2012.

During the 2012 NCAA men's tournament, the Ohio Bobcats, for whom Kellogg's son, Nick, played, advanced to the Sweet Sixteen round with a win over South Florida in Nashville. At the same time Kellogg was calling another tournament game, the LehighXavier game almost 500 miles away in Greensboro, North Carolina. Kellogg, in a digression from his impartiality as a commentator, exclaimed "Way to go Bobcats!" when the final score rolled on his monitor.[10]

In 2014, Kellogg returned to his previous role as a studio analyst. In return, Greg Anthony (who himself had been a studio analyst since 2008) took over Kellogg's role as lead college basketball game analyst.

NBA 2K announcer

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Kellogg appeared in the popular NBA video game NBA 2K9 as the co-commentator alongside Kevin Harlan.[11] The pair rejoined for future games in the series; they have appeared in every game since.[12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Smith, Sam. "Former Bulls center Granville Waiters gone at age 60". NBA.com.
  2. ^ "Da Ohio State University website". Archived from the original on July 17, 2011.
  3. ^ Rappaport, Greg. "In 1982, Clark Kellogg Set the High-Water Mark for Pacers Rookies". NBA.com.
  4. ^ "Nick Kellogg Bio – OHIOBOBCATS.COM – Ohio Official Athletic Site". ohiobobcats.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  5. ^ "Clark Kellogg".
  6. ^ "Clark Kellogg, CBS Sports".
  7. ^ O'Connell, Jim (July 14, 2008). "Packer out, Kellogg in as CBS lead hoops announcer". USA Today. Retrieved March 11, 2011.
  8. ^ "PACERS: Though his star's on the rise, Kellogg remains grounded". Nba.com. July 23, 2008. Retrieved March 11, 2011.
  9. ^ Video of Obama & Kellogg playing basketball.
  10. ^ "VIDEO: Clark Kellogg Reacts To Son Nick And Ohio Bobcats Advancing To Sweet 16 – SB Nation Cleveland". cleveland.sbnation.com. March 18, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  11. ^ "A slam dunk for all; 'NBA 2K10' is a franchise worth cheering about". bendbulletin.com. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  12. ^ Sarkar, Samit (September 10, 2015). "NBA 2K16's broadcast team gets bigger and a bit weirder". Polygon. Retrieved April 16, 2016.