Keady back for last shot

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — In Gene Keady’s 24 years on the Purdue sideline, few have been more trying than last season.

His Boilermakers were flying high after winning the Great Alaska Shootout, but it was mostly downhill from there. Losses, injuries and academic ineligibility plagued the team, as it limped to a 17-14 finish and missed the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years.

Keady flirted with leaving Purdue for the University of San Francisco in the off-season, but athletic director Morgan Burke thinks he knows why the 68-year-old decided to return for season No. 25.

“Gene is such a competitor that I don’t think he wanted to leave after a year like that,” Burke said. “If it had been a great year, if we competed for a Big Ten championship, made a run in the tournament, he may have said it’s a good time to bail out.”

But the Boilermakers didn’t. And Keady didn’t.

With Matt Painter coming over from Southern Illinois to serve as an assistant this season before taking over the program next year, Keady is back for one more run at his seventh Big Ten title and 18th NCAA Tournament appearance.

And that’s all Keady is thinking about. He doesn’t want emotional send-off ceremonies or lavish gifts, which are sure to come anyway.

“I want to win basketball games at Purdue,” he said plainly.

That has been easier said than done in recent seasons.

Keady’s teams have won at least 20 games 14 times, but not since 1999-2000. Last year, the Boilermakers lost seven games by two points or less.

Keady has reason to be optimistic this season.

“We had five injuries last year, we don’t think that should happen this year,” Keady said. “We have better ball handlers, better rebounders. We’ll see. Talk is cheap.”

Even with retirement looming, he’s focusing on the present, but his players know what’s at stake.

“He’s keeping the pedal to the metal,” point guard Brandon McKnight said. “We’re just trying to send him off on top.”