It's tough to get too excited after seeing your team's season come to an end, particularly in a narrow loss with the Sweet 16 on the line – which is exactly what played out on Monday for the No. 4 seed West Virginia Mountaineers in the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.
But despite the loss to the Wildcats, there is plenty to be hopeful for as a WVU women's basketball fan under Mark Kellogg's leadership, and after the loss on Monday, he sent a message to supporters of the program that gives reason for even more hope.
Mark Kellogg sounds like a coach intent on returning to Morgantown
While speaking to media after the Kentucky game, Kellogg sounded like a coach entirely pleased with his situation athis current home and set on continuing to grow the program to new heights at WVU.
“I’m proud to be the coach here at West Virginia. Hopefully, we’re building something. These guys had a huge hand in that," Kellogg said.
WVU HC Mark Kellogg:
— Spencer Ripchik (@RipchikSpencer) March 23, 2026
“I’m proud to be the coach here at West Virginia. Hopefully, we’re building something. These guys had a huge hand in that.” pic.twitter.com/qq2FHtckQZ
That sounds like a man who plans to stay settled in Morgantown for at least one more season, and that should bring big smiles to the faces of all people who support the program – because he's done an incredible job so far for the Mountaineers and will certainly be a hot coaching candidate in the coming years.
Kellogg has the Mountaineers in an outstanding position as a program, as they wrap up the season with 28 wins, which is the most since the 2013-2014 season and the third-most in program history in a single season. They have captured 25 or more wins in all three seasons under his leadership, which they hadn't done for five years before his arrival.
They've made four consecutive NCAA Tournaments and won their first Big 12 Tournament Championship since 2017 this season, and earned the opportunity to host opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 34 years – which resulted in two sellout crowds, a program attendance record, and one of the Top 10 most attended opening weekend games in NCAA Tournament history.
A lot of programs would love to have that type of success, and with Kellogg leading the program, this could be the standard moving forward for the Mountaineers. So it's good news to hear that he seems to want to stick around.