Gene Keady

College coach infobox


Name = Gene Keady
| Caption =
DateOfBirth = birth date and age|1936|5|21
Birthplace = flagicon|United States Larned, Kansas
Sport = Basketball
College = Purdue
Title = Head coach
CurrentRecord =
OverallRecord = 543-268 (.670)
Awards = 7-time Big Ten Coach of the Year
6-time College Basketball Coach of the Year
Naismith Outstanding Contribution to Basketball
2007 John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award
Championships = Big Ten Regular Season Championship (1984, 1987, 1988, 1994, 1995, 1996)
OVC Tournament Championship (1980)
OVC Regular Season Championship (1980)
Coach = *
CoachYears = 1975–1978
1978–1980
1980–2005
CoachTeams = Arkansas (asst.)
Western Kentucky
Purdue
HOF =

Gene Keady (May 21 1936 is a former basketball coach and NFL quarterback. Currently a basketball analyst for the Big Ten Network, he is most notable for being the head basketball coach at Purdue University for 25 years, from 1980-2005.

Playing career

College career

Kansas State

Gene's father instilled in him a passion for sports. This became evident as Keady was a four sport athlete at Garden City Junior College in Garden City, Kansas. At the junior college level, Keady was named an All-American in football for playing quarterback. Keady continued his education at a higher level at Kansas State University. At Kansas State, Keady was a letter-winner in three sports: football, baseball, and track. In the summer of 1958, Keady graduated from Kansas State with a B.S. in biological sciences and physical education.

Professional career

Pittsburgh Steelers

Gene Keady was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League in the 19^th round of the draft with the 223^rd pick overall in 1958. His professional career, however, was ended early by a knee injury.

Coaching career

High school coaching career

1959-1965

With his playing career over, Keady returned to Kansas in 1959 where he accepted a teaching and coaching position at Beloit High School in Beloit. The only coaching position open at the school was for the basketball team. Keady coached in Beloit for six years from 1959 to 1965. Keady understood the value of education and never stopped learning, even while he was coaching. In 1964, he earned his master's degree in education from Kansas State. While coaching high school basketball, he compiled a record of 142 wins to 47 losses.

College coaching career

Hutchinson Junior College

1965-1975

Keady began his college coaching career with Hutchinson Junior College in Hutchinson, Kansas. He served as the assistant coach for the Blue Dragons starting in 1965. After only one year, Keady was promoted to take over the head coaching position. Under Keady's leadership the Blue Dragons won six league titles, and Keady earned the title of junior college coach of the year three times for his region.Fact|date=April 2008 The highlight of his early coaching career came in 1973 when Hutchinson finished second in the junior college national tournament after completing the season with 29 wins and 4 losses.

University of Arkansas

1975-1978

In 1975, Keady moved onto NCAA Division I college basketball as an assistant coach for Arkansas. Head coach Eddie Sutton and Keady made the Razorbacks into a perennial national contender. In 1977, Arkansas appeared in the NCAA tournament for the first time in nineteen years. In 1978, Arkansas made it to the Final Four. Although they lost a close game to Kentucky, making it to the Final Four was a huge success for Keady and Sutton. While at Arkansas, Keady gained fame for his impressive recruiting skills. Notable players recruited by Keady include Ron Brewer, Marvin Delph and Sidney Moncrief. During his time at Arkansas, the team accumulated 94 wins with 24 losses.

Western Kentucky University

1978-1980

Following the third place finish in the 1978 NCAA tournament, Keady was ready to lead his own team to the tournament. In 1979, he accepted the position of head coach for Western Kentucky University. In his first year as a division one head coach, the team went 17-11, and finished tied for second in the conference. The team improved in his second year to go 21-8 and be named the regular season Ohio Valley Conference Co-Champions. The team won the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament and earned a berth in the NCAA tournament. In the first round the team played Virginia Tech, but lost in overtime. While at Western Kentucky, Keady compiled an overall record of 38-19.

Purdue University

1980-2005

Gene Keady became the Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball head coach on April 11, 1980. Keady became the second winningest coach in Big Ten Conference history and winningest coach in school history with 265 victories, only behind former rival, Bob Knight, and was the Big Ten Coach of the Year seven times. He was also National Coach of the Year six times in a sixteen year timescale from 1984 to 2000. However, Keady was never able to win an NCAA championship in his career despite his success, nor reach a Final Four with Purdue. Keady hired former Purdue guard, Matt Painter (1989-1993), as his associate head coach for the 2004-2005 season. He was selected to take over the head coaching position. Keady retired from coaching Purdue following the 2004-2005 season after leading Purdue to 18 NCAA Tournamnent appearances. He took the Boilermakers to two Elite Eight appearances and five total Sweet 16 appearances. His total NCAA tournament postseason record is 20-19. He led Purdue to five NIT appearances with a record of 12-5 and a second and third place finish. Mackey Arena's basketball court was named "Keady Court" in dedication to him. In October of 2006 Keady was named the recipient of the 2007 John R. Wooden "Legends of Coaching" award. Keady is the ninth recipient of this award, as it was created in 1999. While coaching at Purdue, Gene was quoted by saying, "Recruiting is a lot like shaving, if you miss a day, you look like a bum." [http://woodenaward.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/102406aaa.html]

While often overshadowed by Bobby Knight at Indiana University, Keady holds a winning record against Knight.

Professional coaching career

Toronto Raptors

2005-2006

On December 6, 2005 he accepted a position of an assistant coach with the Toronto Raptors offered to him by senior basketball adviser to the president Wayne Embry [http://www.lafayettejc.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051206/SPORTS02010201/512060347/1045/SPORTS] . The hiring was officially announced by the club on December 9 in a press release [http://www.nba.com/raptors/news/PR_keady_051209.html] . On May 18, 2006 it was announced that Keady will not be returning for the 2006-07 season because of his wife's illness [http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060520/SPORTS/605200391] .

International coaching career

In 2000, Keady won a Gold Medal in the Olympic Games in Sydney as an assistant coach for the Dream Team. He won a total of 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medals with a 22-2 record. (note:"Coaches are not awarded medals in the Olympic games)"