Gene Keady
Encyclopedia : G : GE : GEN : Gene Keady
Gene Keady (born May 21 1936, in Larned, Kansas, United States) is former basketball coach. He is most notable for being the head basketball coach at Purdue University for 25 years, from 1980-2005. Prior to that, he was head basketball coach at Western Kentucky University from 1979-1980 and assistant coach at Arkansas from 1975-1978 under head coach Eddie Sutton. He is a graduate of Kansas State University, where he played football and earned degrees in 1958 and 1964.
Keady is one of the winningest coaches in Big Ten Conference history, and was Big Ten Coach of the Year seven times. He was also National Coach of the Year four times: 1984 (United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA)); 1994 (National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC)); 1996 (Associated Press (AP), United Press International (UPI)); and 2000 (NABC). However, Keady was never able to win a NCAA championship in his career despite his success.
In 2000, Keady won a Gold Medal in the Olympic Games in Sydney as an assistant coach for the Dream Team.
In December 2004, Keady was awarded the 36th Naismith Award by the Naismith International Basketball Foundation for his tremendous sportsmanship in basketball and a lifelong dedication to basketball. (Note: this award is distinct from the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Naismith Awards.)
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. Early in his career he led Western Kentucky to one NCAA tournament appearance. His total NCAA tournament postseason record of 20-19. He was succeeded by Matt Painter, who played under Keady as a guard at Purdue and served as Keady's associate during his final season as head coach.
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 [link]. The hiring was officially announced by the club on December 9 in a press release [link]. On May 18, 2006 it was announced that Keady will not be returning for the 2006-07 season because of his wife's illness [link].
One of the more unusual aspects of Keady's career is that unlike the vast majority of successful basketball coaches, Keady never played the game at the high school, college or professional level.
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