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11 August 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame is set to enshrine a new class of inductees on Saturday, one of whom is a longtime college basketball coach with a rich history in the state of Kansas.
Gene Keady is most known in the college basketball world for his time with the Purdue Boilermakers and for good reason. He spent 25 years with the program and became the winningest coach in school history. He was named Big 10 Coach of the Year a total of seven times.
But Keady didn’t get his coaching start at Purdue. It actually started in a small town in north-central Kansas: Beloit.
Keady’s upbringing in Kansas
Keady was born in May 1936, is a native of Larned and alumnus of Larned High School. After high school, he attended Garden City Community College and was a standout quarterback, being named an All-American. He finished his time in western Kansas and headed to Manhattan, where he played football and baseball, as well as track for Kansas State.
He was drafted in the 19th round of the NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers but never appeared in a game.
Keady’s coaching career
Keady later returned to Kansas and accepted a coaching and teaching position at Beloit High School. He coached the basketball team for six years and compiled a record of 142-47.
In 1965, Keady moved up in the coaching ranks and became an assistant at Hutchinson Community College. The next season, he was named the head coach of the Blue Dragons program, a position he held until 1974.
Hutchinson won six Jayhawk Conference titles under Keady, who was named Junior College Coach of the Year three times. He compiled a record of 187-48 with the Blue Dragons.
In 1975, Keady moved up the coaching ranks once again, becoming an assistant coach for Eddie Sutton at Arkansas. While he was at Arkansas, the Razorbacks became a national contender. In 1977, the team reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 19 years, and one year later, made it all the way to the Final Four.
Keady is credited with bringing NBA legends Ron Brewer — whose son, Ronnie, is on the current staff at Arkansas — Marvin Delph and Sidney Moncrief to the Arkansas program.
Keady left Arkansas in 1978 to take the reins of the Western Kentucky program and was there for two seasons before he took on the Purdue job. He finished with a record of 38-19 at Western Kentucky.
While at Purdue, Keady led the Boilermakers to 18 NCAA Tournament appearances, including two Elite Eights and five Sweet Sixteens. He is etched into Purdue history as the basketball court at Mackey Arena — where Purdue plays its home games — is named “Keady Court.”
After spending 25 years at Purdue, Keady was an assistant coach at St. John’s and the Toronto Raptors of the NBA. He currently is an analyst for the Big Ten Network.
The 2023 Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame ceremony is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. CT and will air exclusively on NBA TV.