Legendary Purdue head coach to be inducted into Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
HOUSTON, Texas (WISH) — Former Purdue University men’s basketball head coach Gene Keady is joining an exclusive club.
Keady is one of 12 individuals who make up the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2023.
The class was announced on Saturday.
“It’s the biggest honor I’ve ever achieved,” Keady said on Saturday.
Keady spent 25 seasons as Purdue’s head coach. He is still the winningest coach in program history with 512 wins at Purdue.
Keady was named Big Ten Coach of the Year seven times in his career.
“I think when you coach at all different levels, you get a feel of what you need to do to motivate your players and how they should cherish their education and their families and be part of a team,” said Keady. “And it’s always — as I said a while ago, it’s not about me. It’s about us. So that was the lesson I learned was all the players that I coached were always a joy to be with, and I really appreciated the fact that they were loyal to me.”
Keady led Purdue to the NCAA Tournament 17 times.
He previously was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame back in 2013.
Here is a complete list of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2023:
- Gene Bess
- Pau Gasol
- David Hixon
- Gene Keady
- Dirk Nowitzki
- Tony Parker
- Gregg Popovich
- Dwayne Wade
- Gary Blair
- Becky Hammon
- 1976’s Women’s Olympic Basketball Team (Women’s Veterans)
- Jim Valvano (Contributor)
The 12 individuals will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame in August.