By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

CBS college basketball analyst Clark Kellogg stopped in during a Xavier men's basketball practice at Cintas Center. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

He has lost a step, or two or three, but at age 41 Clark Kellogg is never too far from the game of basketball.

The former Ohio State and Indianapolis Pacers player, now a CBS college basketball analyst, stopped by Cintas Center to watch a Xavier practice this week. It was part of his Midwest basketball tour that will take Kellogg to at least eight college practices within a five-hour drive from his home near Columbus.

Xavier is one of them because it has a chance to be one of the outstanding teams in the country, Kellogg said as he sat among a sea of blue chairs in an otherwise empty Cintas Center. A few NBA scouts were on the other side of the court.

"They've got David West and Romain Sato, and their team is a team that has a chance to be very competitive in their league and also nationally," he said. "I'm also hoping to see Indiana, Ball State, Notre Dame, Cincinnati and Kentucky, and maybe Louisville if it works out. Western Kentucky is a team that I would like to see, as well as Pittsburgh."

Those last two, Western Kentucky and Pittsburgh, are high on Kellogg's list of preseason national championship contenders along with Arizona, Kansas and Connecticut.

"Basically you have your elite, high-level national championship-contending teams," Kellogg said. "You can probably put from eight to 12 teams in that group. You wouldn't be surprised not only if they got to the Final Four, but if they won it."

He likes Western Kentucky because of the big man, 7-foot-1, 285-pound Chris Marcus, a preseason All-American who Kellogg thinks could take the Hilltoppers deep into the tournament. Kellogg wants to get to a Pittsburgh practice to check out Brandin Knight, one of the most highly rated point guards in the nation.

But what about Xavier?

"I would throw Xavier in at the backside of the first group or at the top of the second group," Kellogg said. "Right now they're at the top of the second group of about 12 to 15 teams."

Kellogg would know. He worked as a college basketball analyst for ESPN from 1990-97 and has been with CBS since 1997. In addition to college basketball work, he has been a television analyst for the Pacers for 14 years.

This is the first time, however, Kellogg has traveled to preseason practice to observe the teams he will be talking about during the season.

"It gives me a chance to evaluate players and get to know them," Kellogg said. "I do a lot of videotape watching, but there's something special to be able to get into the gym and watch practice."

There is still one player Kellogg hasn't seen but wants to watch play. His name is LeBron James, the Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary prep star who many say is the best high school player in the state since Kellogg played for Cleveland St. Joseph's in the late 1970s.

"I think you'd have to throw Jerry Lucas and Jimmy Jackson into that group," Kellogg said. "As you compare players, it's a matter of personal preference in terms of what you want or like in a player. It's a terrific honor. I always wanted to be one of the better players when I was in high school. I always wanted to be one of the better players when I was in college. That was my same goal when I was in the pros."

Though Kellogg was all-Big Ten at Ohio State, his pro career lasted only five years because of chronic knee injuries that forced him to retire at 26 after career averages of 18.9 points and 9.6 rebounds a game.

"I miss the fact that I never got the chance to see how good I could get as a pro," Kellogg said. "I never had a chance to play in the playoffs. I was a developing, young, up-and-coming player on a team that was struggling to find itself in the early '80s that has now been one of the outstanding franchises in all of pro sports. I wish I could have had a chance."

It's been too long for him to continue dwelling on that subject. November is almost here. Soon the games will begin, and Kellogg will be calling the action.

"If you don't want to coach," he said, "and you can't play, but you love the game, this is probably the best seat to have."

E-mail ddow@enquirer.com