The Cluster

Mercer Basketball, the Mercer Athletic Foundation and the Macon community are proud to announce CBS Sports college basketball analyst Clark Kellogg as the keynote speaker for this year’s Tip-Off Banquet. Speaking at the third installment of the event on Nov. 1, the Cleveland native will help kick off a new basketball season and hopefully help promote and raise money for Mercer Basketball.
The former NBA player and college standout will help bring experience and words of wisdom to a large crowd of Mercer athletes, families and friends in the University Center Arena. Following speakers Jay Bilas (2010) and Dick Vitale (2009), Kellogg will more-than-satisfy Mercer’s high expectations for the annual occasion.
“We are very excited to once again have such an expert on college basketball like Clark Kellogg serve as our headline speaker for the Tip-Off Banquet,” said MAF President John Collier. “We always want to have our featured speaker not only be ‘high-profile’ in the sense of recognition, but also someone who can speak about basketball – especially on the college level – with authority and conviction.  In Clark Kellogg, we once again have that person,” he added.
Born and raised in Cleveland, O.H., Kellogg attended St. Joseph’s High School, where he made his mark as one of the best young basketball stars Ohio has ever produced. Named “Mr. Ohio Basketball” in 1979, Kellogg highlighted his high school career with a 51-point, 24-rebound performance in that year’s state championship game. The 51-point mark still stands as the most points scored in a state finals game in Ohio’s history.
After high school, Kellogg moved on to play college basketball at Ohio State University (OSU). Picking up where he left off, the 6-foot-7 small forward made the All-Big Ten Conference Team and garnered MVP honors.
After completing his four years at OSU (’79-’82), Kellogg was selected eighth overall in the 1982 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers. That was the same draft that included NBA legends James Worthy and Dominique Wilkins.
In his rookie season with the Pacers, Kellogg earned a spot on the All-Rookie First Team. He averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds that season. He still remains one of only 20 players to have done this in the history of the NBA. Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Tim Duncan, Elton Brand, and Blake Griffin are the most recent players to have achieved that goal. In the last 11 years, it has only been achieved once.
Early in his career, Kellogg earned the nickname “Special K”. In fact, he was lined up to release his own brand of sneakers after signing a contract with Converse. Unfortunately, his days on the court came to a halt when he developed chronic knee problems and was forced into early retirement after just three full seasons (’82-’86).
In 1990, Kellogg signed on with ESPN as a basketball analyst. Working with the Big East Network and Prime Sports, Kellogg became a household name and spread his knowledge of the game to the world. Kellogg has also worked as a color commentator and analyst for his former team in Indiana over the years. In 1993, he joined CBS Sports and has been working alongside greats such as Greg Gumbel, Jim Nantz, and Verne Lundquist ever since. In fact, at the beginning of the 2008-2009 season, Kellogg was promoted to CBS Sports’ lead basketball announcer.  In 2009, he called the NCAA Championship Game between North Carolina and Michigan State.
The 50-year-old Kellogg continues to work games of March Madness, Championship Week and the occasional Pacers’ game in the NBA. In fact, he was recently appointed as the Vice President of Player Relations for the Indiana-based organization.
To go along with all of his experience, Kellogg also received a degree in Marketing from OSU.
In addition, Kellogg has been featured as one of the commentators and voices in the NBA 2K sports editions of the NBA video games.
As a side note, in 2010, Clark Kellogg played a friendly game of P.O.T.U.S. (a rendition of H.O.R.S.E.) versus President Obama while discussing the NCAA tournament. Click here to watch the complete video.
Clark Kellogg, Coach Bob Hoffman and Coach Susie Gardner are just a few of the speakers listed for the Tip-Off event on Tuesday, Nov. 1. The new rosters and hopes of the upcoming season will be presented to the crowd of athletes and other Mercerians alike.
For ticketing information, please email MAF@mercer.edu or call (478) 301-4003.