Purdue's Gene Keady Named To College Basketball Hall Of Fame

There has been a lot of discussion lately in FanPosts and comments about Matt Painter being another Gene Keady, only in a negative sense. well, after the news today I am fine with those comparisons because Gene Keady is officially a Hall of Famer and there is plenty of time in Coach painter's career to exceed those accomplishments. It was announced tonight, in advance of the Final Four that eluded him, that coach Keady will be inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame:

Longtime coaches Gene Keady and Rollie Massimino, and former U.S. congressman Tom McMillen, headline the 2013 class that will be inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.

Keady began his career at Western Kentucky before going 512-270 during 25 years at Purdue, while Massimino spent 30 years coaching Stony Brook, Villanova, UNLV and Cleveland State.

Coach Keady enters with an overall record of 550-289 in 27 years as a head coach and seven conference championships (1 Ohio Valley, 6 Big Ten). His teams made 18 NCAA Tournaments in 27 seasons. He had a losing record only in 1988-89 (15-16), 2001-02 (13-18 due to a rash of injuries) and his final season of 2004-05 (7-21). In addition to the six Big Ten championships his teams were a No. 1 seed three times (1988, 1994, and 1996), reached the Sweet 16 five times and Elite Eight twice. Only four times in 27 years did his teams not reach at least the NIT. He was named Big Ten Coach of the Year seven times and an national Coach of the year six times. We also remember his memorable rivalry with Bobby Knight, as he best the General with a 20-19 record against him all-time. From 1994-96 he own the Big Ten with three straight outright Big Ten titles, a feat that has not been matched since.

Congratulations, Coach Keady! Although he has the unfortunate label of, "Best coach to never reach a Final Four," he is still one of the best to ever coach at the college level. He always got the most out of the talent he had at hand too. It is great to see him earn another fantastic honor even eight years after he last served as a head coach.