Gene Keady

Lloyd Eugene Keady
Sport(s) Basketball
Current position
Title Former Head coach
Team Purdue
Biographical details
Born May 21, 1936 (1936-05-21) (age 75)
Place of birth Larned, Kansas, United States
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1975–1978
1978–1980
1980–2005
2005–2006
2010–present		 Arkansas (asst.)
Western Kentucky
Purdue
Toronto Raptors (asst.)
St. John's (asst.)
Head coaching record
Overall 550–289 (.655)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Big Ten Regular Season Championship (1984, 1987, 1988, 1994, 1995, 1996)
OVC Tournament Championship (1980)
OVC Regular Season Championship (1980)
Awards
7-time Big Ten Coach of the Year
6-time College Basketball Coach of the Year
1990 NJCAA Hall of Fame
2001 Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame
2004 Naismith Outstanding Contribution to Basketball
2007 Kansas Sports Hall of Fame
2007 John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award
2010 Joe Lapchick Character Award
2010 Purdue Athletic Hall of Fame

Lloyd Eugene "Gene" Keady (born May 21, 1936) is a basketball coach. Currently an assistant coach at St. John's, he is most notable for being the head basketball coach at Purdue University for 25 years, from 1980 to 2005.

Contents

College playing career

Kansas State (1954–1958)

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 playing career

High school coaching career

Beloit High School (1959–1965)

With his football playing career over, Keady returned to Kansas in 1959 where he accepted a teaching and coaching position at Beloit High School in Beloit, Kansas. 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 (1965–1974)

Keady began his college coaching career with Hutchinson Community 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. 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. His overall record at Hutchinson was 187–48, .796 winning pct.

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 (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 and assistant coach Bruce Weber compiled an overall record of 38–19.

Purdue (1980–2005)

Gene Keady became the Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball head coach on April 11, 1980. Keady became the winningest coach in school history with 512 victories and second winningest coach in Big Ten Conference history, 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 Tournament appearances. He took the Boilermakers to two Elite Eight appearances and five total Sweet Sixteen 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 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." [1]

St. John's (2010–present)

In October 2010, newly hired St. John's coach Steve Lavin hired Keady to be his assistant coach. [2] His main roles as an assistant to Lavin are breaking down game film and serving as a bench coach on game days.

College head coaching record

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (OVC) (1978–1980)
1978–1979 Western Kentucky 17–11 7–5 T-2nd
1979–1980 Western Kentucky 21–8 10–2 T-1st NCAA 1st Round
Western Kentucky: 38–19 17–7
Purdue Boilermakers (Big 10) (1980–2005)
1980–1981 Purdue 21–11 10–8 4th NIT 3rd Place
1981–1982 Purdue 18–14 11–7 5th NIT Runner-Up
1982–1983 Purdue 21–9 11–7 T-2nd NCAA 2nd Round
1983–1984 Purdue 22–7 15–3 T-1st NCAA 1st Round
1984–1985 Purdue 20–9 11–7 T-3rd NCAA 1st Round
1985–1986 Purdue 22–10 11–7 T-4th NCAA 2nd Round
1986–1987 Purdue 25–5 15–3 T-1st NCAA 2nd Round
1987–1988 Purdue 29–4 16–2 1st NCAA Sweet 16
1988–1989 Purdue 15–16 8–10 T-6th
1989–1990 Purdue 22–8 13–5 2nd NCAA 2nd Round
1990–1991 Purdue 17–12 9–9 T-5th NCAA 1st Round
1991–1992 Purdue 18–15 8–10 T-6th NIT Final 8
1992–1993 Purdue 18–10 9–9 T-5th NCAA 1st Round
1993–1994 Purdue 29–5 14–4 1st NCAA Elite 8
1994–1995 Purdue 25–7 15–3 1st NCAA 2nd Round
1995–1996 Purdue 26–6 15–3 1st NCAA 2nd Round
1996–1997 Purdue 18–12 12–6 2nd NCAA 2nd Round
1997–1998 Purdue 28–8 12–4 3rd NCAA Sweet 16
1998–1999 Purdue 21–13 7–9 7th NCAA Sweet 16
1999–2000 Purdue 24–10 12–4 2nd NCAA Elite 8
2000–2001 Purdue 17–15 6–10 8th NIT Final 8
2001–2002 Purdue 13–18 5–11 T-8th
2002–2003 Purdue 19–11 10–6 T-3rd NCAA 2nd Round
2003–2004 Purdue 17–14 7–9 T-7th NIT 1st Round
2004–2005 Purdue 7–21 3–13 10th
Purdue: 512–270 262–156
Total: 550–289

      National champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference tournament champion
      Conference regular season & conference tournament champion       Conference division champion

Keady helped boost coaching careers while at Purdue with former assistant coaches and players, which created the Gene Keady coaching tree.

International coaching career

Dream Team (2000)

In 2000, Keady won a Gold Medal in the Olympic Games in Sydney as an assistant coach for the Dream Team. Keady's national teams won a total of 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medals with a 22–2 record. As the head coach of various USA Basketball teams, Keady racked up a record of 22–2 in four different tournaments from 1979 to 1991. He led Team USA to two gold medals: one in 1979 at the National Sports Festival, and another in 1989 at the World University Games. Keady also grabbed the silver medal in 1985 at the R. Williams Jones Cup and the bronze at the 1991 Pan-American Games.

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 [3]. The hiring was officially announced by the club on December 9 in a press release [4]. On May 18, 2006 it was announced that Keady will not be returning for the 2006–07 season because of his wife's illness [5].

Basketball analyst career

Big Ten Network (2007–present)

In 2007, The Big Ten Network, a network that airs live sporting events of Big Ten Conference teams and news from around the conference, hired Keady to be a basketball analyst, along with former Big Ten basketball players, Tim Doyle and Jim Jackson. Keady is also an occasional commentator for the network. He attends Purdue home games on a regular basis.

References