Press Release – Page 2

Gene Keady Named Special Advisor

October 15, 2010 by Dave Krupinski 1 Comment

In 1988, a coaching veteran gave an aspiring young colleague a chance with a position at Purdue University. Now, 23 seasons later, that one-time Boilermaker graduate assistant, Steve Lavin, called upon his former boss to join him in his new endeavor at St. John’s University in an advisory role.

One of the most respected coaches in the history of college basketball, Gene Keady, who spent 27 seasons at the helm of the Purdue and Western Kentucky programs and won 550 NCAA Division I games – with more than 800 career wins at all levels – joins the Red Storm as Special Assistant/Advisor to the Head Coach.

Though Keady’s role will not involve any on-court coaching, his keen eye and feel for the game will aid the St. John’s coaching staff in terms of developing strategy, analyzing game film, planning practices, and contributing at staff meetings. With experience at the collegiate level and in the professional ranks as an assistant coach with the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, Keady brings literally decades of perspective to the Red Storm bench.

“Coach Keady’s main responsibility with our basketball program will be to observe practices, contribute in our coaching staff meetings and practice planning,” Lavin said. “I wanted that grandfather presence with our team. Coach Keady has the experience, energy and a great deal of perspective to offer us. He was the most influential person in developing my coaching philosophy. The timing and the fit just seemed right for us here.”

Widely recognized throughout the nation, Keady will serve as a new ambassador for the St. John’s program at University functions, and events in and around the metropolis he has loved, New York City.

With 512 victories, six Big Ten titles and a half-dozen national coach of the year awards, Keady’s record at Purdue speaks for itself. He is the program’s all-time winningest coach, the Big Ten’s second-winningest coach in victories (262) and is third-winningest by percentage (.661).

Keady’s six national coach of the year awards came in 1984, 1988, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 2000. His most recent honor came in 2000 when he was selected national coach of the year by College Sports Magazine, Basketball Weekly, Chevrolet/CBS-TV Sports, Associated Press, United Press International and Sports Illustrated. He also received the Henry Iba Award from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

Keady led Purdue to six Big Ten championships (1984, 1987, 1988, 1994, 1995 and 1996) in 25 years, including three-straight outright crowns from 1994-96. That feat has only been accomplished by one other team in league history – Ohio State from 1960-62.

Purdue finished in the top half of the Big Ten 18 times during Keady’s 25-year tenure, including runner-up finishes in 1983, 1990 and 1997.

He was named Big Ten Coach of the Year a record seven times (1984, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 2000), tying former Indiana coach Bob Knight for the most all-time selections. Keady is the only coach to win the award three-straight years.

Two of Keady’s teams share the program record for wins in a season with 29. The 1987-88 squad posted a 29-4 record, while the 1993-94 Boilermakers were 29-5 on the year.

Overall, the Boilers won at least 25 games six times under Keady’s watch: 25-5 in 1986-87, 29-4 in 1987-88, 29-5 in 1993-94, 25-7 in 1994-95, 26-6 in 1995-96 and 28-8 in 1997-98. The Boilermakers won at least 20 games 14 times under Keady, including a school-record streak of six 20-win seasons from 1983-88.
Keady’s tally of 20-win seasons is by far the most by any coach in school history. Other Purdue coaches with 20-win seasons include Fred Schaus (2), Lee Rose (2) and George King (1).

Under Keady, Purdue made 22 postseason tournament appearances in 24 years (17 times in the NCAA Tournament) and averaged 21.2 wins per season.

The Boilermakers’ best performances in the “Big Dance” came in 1994 and 2000 with a pair of appearances in the Elite Eight. Purdue advanced to the Sweet 16 in 1988, 1998 and 1999.

Purdue finished in the top 10 of the final AP poll six times under Keady: 1984 (10th); 1987 (7th); 1988 (3rd); 1990 (10th); 1994 (3rd); and 1996 (T-4th). Purdue finished 11th in 1998. In 2000, Purdue finished ranked 15th in the ESPN/USA Today poll.

A member and former president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), Keady is one of the leading spokesmen on issues surrounding college basketball. Keady gives back to the game of basketball whenever he has a chance. He is very accommodating to the news media, performs charity work and makes numerous speaking appearances throughout the year.

In 2010, the NABC honored Keady with its Golden Anniversary Award for more than 50 years of contributions to the game of college basketball.

Keady also is a prominent figure in United States basketball. He was a member of Rudy Tomjanovich’s coaching staff for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, helping Team USA to a gold medal.

Prior to that, Keady coached the U.S. entry in the 1989 World University Games to a gold medal in West Germany. It was the United States’ first championship in international competition in three years. Keady was the head coach of the United States for the 1991 Pan-American Games and led the team to a bronze medal. Keady earlier led a group of collegiate all-stars in the U.S. Olympic Developmental Program to second place in the 1985 Jones Cup in Taiwan. Keady’s first international experience came in the summer of 1979. Along with three other coaches, Keady guided the National Sports Festival Team to a gold medal.

He also assisted in selecting the 1984 and 1988 U.S. Olympic squads, and was chosen by Tomjanovich to help coach the USA Basketball Senior National Team in the 1999 Americas Qualification Tournament for the 2000 Olympic Games. Overall, he has helped the United States win three gold medals, a silver and a bronze, while establishing an impressive 40-2 record (.952).

In 26 seasons as a Division I collegiate head coach, he owned a record of 543-268 (.670). Counting his time in junior college, high school and four stints as USA Basketball head coach, his lifetime head coaching ledger is 872-360, a .708 winning percentage.

Under his watch, the Boilermakers were successful in the classroom as well as on the basketball court. Nearly 90 percent of the seniors who stayed at Purdue for four seasons under Keady graduated. In Keady’s tenure, Boilermakers were selected Academic All-Big Ten 35 times, including seven Academic All-America picks (Brian Walker, 1981; Keith Edmonson, 1982; Steve Reid, 1983 and 1984; Craig Riley, 1992; and Carson Cunningham, 2000 and 2001).

Keady coached the consensus national player of the year, Glenn Robinson, in 1993-94. Robinson led the nation in scoring average (30.3) and set a Purdue and Big Ten single-season scoring record (1,030 points). Overall, Keady-coached players have earned All-America status three times (Robinson twice; Keith Edmonson, 1982) and first team All-Big Ten 15 times. Thirteen of Keady’s players have been NBA draftees, and three were named Big Ten MVP (Robinson, 1994; Stephen Scheffler, 1990; and Jim Rowinski, 1984).

Keady was named Purdue’s 17th head basketball coach on April 11, 1980. He arrived at Purdue after a two-year stint as head coach at Western Kentucky. He led the Hilltoppers to a 38-19 record. They were co-champions of the Ohio Valley Conference his second season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

Prior to taking the reins at Western Kentucky, Keady was an assistant coach at Arkansas from 1975 to 1978. He helped Eddie Sutton mold the Razorback program into one of the nation’s best. In doing so, Keady earned his reputation as a tireless recruiter by proving instrumental in Arkansas’ recruiting its famous “Triplets” of Ron Brewer, Marvin Delph and Sidney Moncrief. Arkansas went 94-24 in Keady’s four seasons as an assistant and finished third in the NCAA Tournament in his final campaign.

From 1966 to 1974, Keady coached at Hutchinson (Kansas) Junior College. He was an assistant the first season before taking over as head coach for the 1966-67 season.

Hutchinson won six league titles and qualified for six national tournaments under Keady, including a second-place showing and a 29-4 overall record in 1972-73. Keady was named junior college coach of the year in Region Six in 1971, 1972 and 1973. Before going to Hutchinson, Keady began his head coaching career in Beloit, Kan., at Beloit High School from 1959 to 1965, where he compiled a 102-47 record.

Keady attended Garden City (Kansas) Junior College, where he was a four-sport star, including an All-American as a football quarterback. He then went on to Kansas State, where he played baseball, football and ran track while earning a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences and physical education. He played briefly for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1958 before joining the coaching ranks at Beloit High.

Keady earned his master’s degree in education from Kansas State in 1964. He is enshrined in the National Junior College Basketball Hall of Fame as a player and coach, and in the Kansas Hall of Fame as a coach.

A native of Larned, Kan., Keady now splits time between Lafayette, Ind., and New York City. He and his late wife, Patricia, have three children: the late Lisa, Beverly and Dan.

The Gene Keady File

Coaching/Operations Experience
1966 Hutchison Junior College, Assistant Coach
1967-74 Hutchison Junior College, Head Coach
1975-78 University of Arkansas, Assistant Coach
1979-80 Western Kentucky University, Head Coach
1980-05 Purdue University, Head Coach
2005-06 Toronto Raptors, Assistant Coach
2010-present St. John’s University, Special Assistant/Advisor

USA Basketball Coaching Experience
1985 Olympic Developmental, Head Coach
1989 World University Games, Head Coach
1991 Pan American Games, Head Coach
1999 Olympic Qualifying, Assistant Coach
2000 Olympics – Sydney, Australia, Assistant Coach

Coaching Honors
· National Coach of the Year: 1984, ’88, ’94, ’95, ’96, 2000
1984 National Coach of the Year by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), CBS Sports, Chevrolet Scholarship Program, Hoop Scoop and Iowa Rebounders Club
1988 National Coach of the Year by NBC Sports
1994 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) National Coach of the Year
1995 National Coach of the Year by Chevrolet/CBS Sports
1996 National Coach of the Year by Chevrolet/CBS Sports, the Associated Press (AP), United Press International (UPI), College Sports Magazine, Basketball Weekly; recipient of the Henry Iba Award (selected by the USBWA)
2000 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) National Coach of the Year
· Big Ten Coach of the Year: 1984, ’88, ’90, ’94, ’95, ’96, 2000
· National Junior College Basketball Hall of Fame (as both a player and coach)
· Kansas Hall of Fame (coach)

Personal
· Education: Kansas State University (1958), B.S. in biological sciences and physical education; Kansas State University (1964), M.S. in education
· Date of Birth: May 21, 1936 in Larned, Kan.
· Family: Wife – the late Patricia Keady. Children – the late Lisa, Beverly, Dan

ESPN Names Talent For Tip-Off

October 12, 2010 by Dave Krupinski Leave a Comment

New head men’s coach Steve Lavin, head women’s coach Kim Barnes Arico and the Red Storm men’s and women’s basketball teams invite all St. John’s fans to the 2010 Red Storm Tip-Off, a season-opening celebration scheduled for Friday, Oct. 15, at 7 p.m. at Carnesecca Arena.

ADMISSION IS FREE BUT SPACE IS LIMITED. This year’s Red Storm Tip-Off is open to the public, with free tickets available for pickup beginning at 2 p.m. on Oct. 15 at the Carnesecca Arena Ticket Office. Free pizza will be available for the first 2,000 students through the doors at 7 p.m., and attendance at the event earns St. John’s students +3 MVP points.

ESPN SportsCenter anchor John Anderson will serve as the event’s host while New York City’s own D.J. S&S – the D.J. of music and entertainment mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs – will get the crowd moving during a night where the 2010-11 men’s and women’s basketball teams will be introduced, and Lavin and Barnes Arico will address fans about the excitement of the upcoming season. Both teams will hold short scrimmages and the men’s team will put on a dunk contest as part of what is sure to be an outstanding evening of contests, giveaways, performances and surprises on St. John’s Queens Campus. At the end of the night, one fan will have the opportunity to take home $10,000 by making a half-court shot.

ESPNU announced that the 2010 Red Storm Tip-Off will be included in its four-hour “whip-around” Midnight Madness Special. ESPNU, now in its fifth-consecutive year covering season-opening celebrations on college campuses all across the nation, will focus on the events at St. John’s, national champion Duke, Kentucky, Gonzaga, Memphis, Kansas State and two-time defending NCAA women’s champion Connecticut. ESPNU’s Bram Weinstein, Jay Bilas, Hubert Davis and Andy Katz will anchor the studio coverage, while ESPN college basketball analyst Doug Gottlieb will join the thousands of Red Storm fans expected to be on hand in Queens.

The 2010-11 Red Storm men‘s squad returns five starters and 12 letterwinners from a 2009-10 team that posted a 17-16 record and reached the first round of the Postseason NIT. St. John’s 10-man senior class includes returning scoring leaders D.J. Kennedy (15.1 points per game, 6.1 rebounds per game, 3.1 assists per game, 1.2 steals per game), Dwight Hardy (10.5 ppg, .383 3-point field goal percentage) and Paris Horne (9.2 ppg).

Barnes Arico, the 2010 MBWA Coach of the Year, and her squad are coming off the best season in program history, making its fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament and advancing to the second round in 2010. St. John’s finished 25-7 overall, tied the program mark with 12 BIG EAST wins, boasted a 13-1 home record and finished No. 15 in the final AP Poll. With nine letterwinners returning, the squad has been rated as high as 13th in the basketball preview magazines and junior Da’Shena Stevens was named a second team Preseason All-American by the Sporting News.

Fans can be a part of the 2010-11 St. John’s hardwood campaign by visiting www.redstormsports.com and clicking on the “Tickets” link to order men’s and women’s basketball season tickets.

About ESPNU
ESPNU launched March 4, 2005. The 24-hour college sports television network televises more than 650 live events annually. Action includes a variety of top football and men’s and women’s basketball games, as well as Olympic sports from 26 Division I conferences. ESPNU is the destination for premier high school programming, including elite football and basketball events. The network also has a wide-ranging agreement with the NCAA for extensive coverage of 22 NCAA Championships.

ESPNU offers over 400 original studio shows, including SportsCenterU, ESPNU Recruiting Insider, The Experts, The Bracket, BCS Countdown and is the television home of ESPN Radio’s The Herd with Colin Cowherd. The brand is also available in high definition on ESPNU HD, now in over 17 million homes. In addition, ESPNU Campus Connection is a multiplatform, student-generated content initiative to enhance the network’s link to college campuses nationwide.

ESPNU has seen a steady increase since its inception and is now in over 73 million households across the country. The network has long-term carriage agreements with all 10 of the top multichannel TV providers – Cablevision, Charter, Comcast, Cox, DirecTV (Channel 208), DISH Network (Channel 141), Mediacom, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS TV and AT&T U-verse.

St. John’s TV Schedule Announced

October 8, 2010 by Dave Krupinski Leave a Comment

The BIG EAST Conference released the St. John’s University men’s basketball team’s finalized schedule, complete with game times and television broadcast information, on Friday night. A total of 24 St. John’s regular season matchups will appear on television, excluding broadcast information that may be added for the 2010 Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout, as well as the Red Storm’s visit to Fordham’s historic Rose Hill Gym on Saturday, Dec. 11.

The Red Storm will appear in 11 nationally-televised games during the regular season, including late January/early February matchups with Duke and UCLA on CBS and nine additional games on the ESPN family of national networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU). In addition, STJ will make 13 appearances on New York regional sports networks (SNY, MSG, MSG Plus).

For the third-straight season, St. John’s men’s basketball games will be carried on the Red Storm’s powerful flagship station, Bloomberg Radio 1130-AM. Expert commentary will be provided by veteran broadcaster John Minko and former St. John’s standout guard Tarik Turner. Any non-televised home game will be carried live by RedStormSports.com’s subscription-based broadband Internet video service, StormTracker All-Access, with play-by-play announcer Ralph Bednarczyk on the call.

St. John’s new head coach Steve Lavin guides a Red Storm team with a 10-man senior class. STJ veterans include returning scoring leaders D.J. Kennedy (15.1 points per game, 6.1 rebounds per game, 3.1 assists per game, 1.2 steals per game), Dwight Hardy (10.5 ppg, .383 3-point field goal percentage) and Paris Horne (9.2 ppg).

The Lavin Era officially begins on the road and on national television, as St. John’s will take on 2010 NCAA Tournament participant Saint Mary’s (Calif.) at the Gaels’ home in Moraga, Calif., on Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 2 a.m. E.T. The matchup is the second game as part of ESPN’s third annual College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon, which features 12 live college basketball games in 24 consecutive hours on the network.

St. John’s plays 16 regular season home dates in all, with eight at Madison Square Garden, “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” and seven on campus at Carnesecca Arena, plus an exhibition contest against Westmont in Queens at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 6. In all, St. John’s could play 19 regular-season games against teams that participated in postseason tournaments in 2009-10 (NCAA – Duke, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, Pitt, Saint Mary’s, Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia; NIT – Arizona State, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Northwestern, Seton Hall, USF).

For ticket information, schedules, scores and highlights for all St. John’s games, visit the home of the Red Storm on the Internet at www.redstormsports.com. Tickets can be purchased online or by calling the St. John’s Ticket Office at 1-888-GO-STORM or 718-990-6211.

Tipping Off With Kenny the Jet Smith

October 7, 2010 by Dave Krupinski Leave a Comment

The St. John’s men’s basketball program invites all fans to its Annual Gala Tip-Off Dinner, to be held on Thursday, Oct. 21, at New York City’s Metropolitan Club. Alumni, fans, friends and supporters of St. John’s basketball are invited to join new head coach Steve Lavin, Director of Athletics Chris Monasch, Hall of Fame Coach Lou Carnesecca and NBA legend Kenny “The Jet” Smith for the evening of celebration.

“This year’s Tip-Off Dinner will have an extra element of excitement as we officially begin the Steve Lavin Era,” said Monasch. “We greatly appreciate Kenny Smith’s attendance, as well as the terrific support we always receive at this event. The contributions made assist us in compete in the best basketball conference in America.”

The annual event, which serves as one of the premier fundraisers for the men’s basketball program, is hosted each year by the St. John’s Office of Athletic Development. Live and silent auctions as part of the event will give ardent Red Storm fans the ability to bid on some premium items.

Fans in attendance will listen to a season-opening address by Coach Lavin, and enjoy a night dedicated to the celebration of St. John’s hardwood legacy. Smith, a former Archbishop Molloy standout who went on to play college basketball for the University of North Carolina, will also be on hand to entertain the crowd. Smith, who scored nearly 10,000 points during his 11-year NBA career, captured a pair of championships with the Houston Rockets (1994, 1995). He now serves as an analyst on TNT’s “Inside The NBA,” teaming with announcer Ernie Johnson and NBA legend Charles Barkley.

For more information or to reserve your place at the Tip-Off Dinner, please contact Elizabeth Austin at 718-990-2548 or austine@stjohns.edu.

2010 Tip-Off To Air On ESPNU

October 4, 2010 by Dave Krupinski Leave a Comment

Paris Horne hangtime — Can Paris defend his Slam Dunk title? Who will be the 2010 slam dunk champion?

ESPN SportsCenter anchor John Anderson will serve as the event’s host while New York City’s own D.J. S&S – the D.J. of music and entertainment mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs – will get the crowd moving during a night where the 2010-11 men’s and women’s basketball teams will be introduced, and Lavin and Barnes Arico will address fans about the excitement of the upcoming season. Both teams will hold short scrimmages and the men’s team will put on a dunk contest as part of what is sure to be an outstanding evening of contests, giveaways, performances and surprises on St. John’s Queens Campus. At the end of the night, one fan will have the opportunity to take home $10,000 by making a half-court shot.

ESPNU announced that the 2010 Red Storm Tip-Off will be included in its four-hour “whip-around” Midnight Madness Special. ESPNU, now in its fifth-consecutive year covering season-opening celebrations on college campuses all across the nation, will focus on the events at St. John’s, national champion Duke, Kentucky, Gonzaga, Memphis, Kansas State and two-time defending NCAA women’s champion Connecticut. ESPNU will provide studio coverage from 9 p.m. until 1 a.m. E.T., while another ESPN college basketball analyst may join the thousands of Red Storm fans expected to be on hand in Queens.

Fans can be a part of the 2010-11 St. John’s hardwood campaign by visiting www.redstormsports.com and clicking on the “Tickets” link to order men’s and women’s basketball season tickets.

About ESPNU

ESPNU launched March 4, 2005. The 24-hour college sports television network televises more than 650 live events annually. Action includes a variety of top football and men’s and women’s basketball games, as well as Olympic sports from 26 Division I conferences. ESPNU is the destination for premier high school programming, including elite football and basketball events. The network also has a wide-ranging agreement with the NCAA for extensive coverage of 22 NCAA Championships.

ESPNU offers over 400 original studio shows, including SportsCenterU, ESPNU Recruiting Insider, The Experts, The Bracket, BCS Countdown and is the television home of ESPN Radio’s The Herd with Colin Cowherd. The brand is also available in high definition on ESPNU HD, now in over 17 million homes. In addition, ESPNU Campus Connection is a multiplatform, student-generated content initiative to enhance the network’s link to college campuses nationwide.

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