Farewell,Favorite Foe

It took him less than seven minutes to learn what IU-Purdue was all about.\nBy the time the Boilermakers called a timeout with 13 minutes and 22 seconds left in the first half on Jan. 31, 1981, he was one technical foul away from an early shower.\nArguing that former IU coach Bob Knight was trying to intimidate the officials and his players, then-rookie Purdue coach Gene Keady got a double-technical and nearly an early exit in his first visit to Assembly Hall.\n"I got two technicals," Keady said. "I remember the technicals and a hard-fought game."\nThose few minutes were a preview for what came during the last 25 years. \nNever known as a basketball powerhouse, engineering savvy Purdue played tough, hard-nosed basketball over the past two and a half decades, something Keady has been praised for nationwide.\n"He gets his kids to play hard," IU coach Mike Davis said. "When you look around the country, that's the key to being successful."\nFor the 24th and final time Tuesday, Keady will travel down Route 65, merge onto I-465 South and take Route 37 into the sunset of Bloomington when Purdue visits IU tonight at 7 p.m.\nTuesday night will be an emotional one not only for Keady, who said he's not sure what will come of it, but also for those who watched him coach at Purdue and even played against him.\n"That's the end of a great era," said former Hoosier Todd Leary, who played against Keady from 1989-1994, sitting out the 1990-91 season because of a redshirt. "You don't get coaches who can hang around a program that long. With what he's done with the teams that he's had, it's just been great to see some of his teams play. It's been fun to watch. It'll be a new era for Purdue. It will be sad to see coach Keady go. They're the rivalry for Indiana, so it's a situation that he's been there since I can remember. So it's going to be disappointing."\nTaking Keady's place next season will be Purdue Associated Head Coach Matt Painter, who was hired specifically with the plan of replacing Keady.\nDuring his last season, Keady has been showered with gifts -- golf clubs, golf trips and even a humidor -- and Tuesday night will be no exception. Before the game, Davis will present the coach with a secret gift or two, which the athletics department won't disclose until the pre-game ceremony. \n"I don't know how I'm going to react until I do it (Tuesday) night," Keady said. \nSaddled as the red-headed step-child of Indiana basketball, Keady and Purdue held their own against IU -- but not in Assembly Hall. The black and gold have won only six games over the crimson and cream during Keady's 25 year stretch -- and they were all against Knight.\n"His teams were fun to play against, just how hard they played," said Iowa coach and former Hoosier guard Steve Alford, who went 2-4 against Keady. "The wins we had against Purdue, we knew we had to earn them. They were talented, good teams -- a lot of fun to play against."\nDespite never winning a national championship, Keady can pat himself on the back for being the visiting coach with the most wins in Assembly Hall.\nDuring his 23 visits to Bloomington, going 17-6, Keady saw his fair share of IU moments. \nBesides the 19 future NBA players he coached against, or the two eventual national championship teams, Keady was fortunate enough to have a first row seat for the side show to IU basketball -- Bob Knight.\nKeady was there Feb. 23, 1985, when Knight took part in the only Assembly Hall javelin throwing contest -- but instead of the javelin, Knight tossed a chair across the court on his way to an ejection. The Hoosiers went on to lose that game, 72-63.\nRealizing what had happened during the game would take the morning headlines, former Bloomington Herald-Times sports editor and long-time Knight friend Bob Hammel said Keady was ready to fight for the spotlight.\n"Immediately after the game, Gene was arguing for who won the game and not what happened," he said.\nThe relationship between Knight and Keady, although a famous rivalry, wasn't much to be talked about, Keady said Monday.\n"I wouldn't say we were close -- we were cordial," he said. \nThe pair never played golf or went fishing and usually only had minor conversations before tip off.\n"It was never anything derogatory," Keady said. "It was always NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches) business, (about) some rule that wasn't good."\nKnight and Keady are never far off any Big Ten fan's mind, but they aren't distanced in the record books either. Knight and Keady are first and second in all-time Big Ten victories, with 353 and 265, respectively.\nAlford said that when the pair met, it was not only a battle, but it was entertaining as well.\n"Just having coach Knight and coach Keady on the sidelines, I don't know if there's been two Big Ten coaches that have meant more to our league," Alford said.\nThe respect for Keady went beyond Knight.\nFormer Hoosier Ted Kitchel, who went undefeated against Keady in Assembly Hall and has been a long-time friend of Keady, said Hoosier fans don't know the real Gene Keady.\n"Indiana fans get a wrong view of him," he said. "They see him on the sidelines, and they see that bulldog look. I don't think it's necessarily what you see is what you get with Gene Keady. He's just a very nice man."\nThat famous "gameface," IU Radio Network play-by-play announcer Don Fischer said, told the whole story of what kind of game it was. \n"That pretty much indicated (what) it was going to be (like)," Fischer said. "He'd take his coat off and throw it in the stands, or swing it over his head. He did what he could to get his team fired up, especially at Indiana."\nHaving only two hours between the two schools, some might say Assembly Hall would hold a small piece of Keady's heart. But not him. \n"A special place in my heart?" he asked. "I don't want to get where you think I like going there. I like the challenge. It's still a situation where you know it's going to be a tough situation to play."\nWith his black hair still black -- even after 68 years -- Keady said he has had six favorite moments, all six of his wins against IU, and is looking for a seventh.\nDavis said he'd take Keady as an assistant if the archrival would accept after the season is over, but he doesn't want Keady out of basketball altogether.\n"Hopefully it's not his last game as a college coach (in Assembly Hall)," Davis said. "I'd really hate to see him go. Anytime you can get players to play hard as he can get players to play, he needs to be a part of basketball, and I just hope he stays in. It's going to be an emotional game for him. This is a rivalry game for him, and it's going to be on national television. He's going to try to come in and try to get a win."\nWhile aiming for number seven, Keady looks back on the past 25 years with a hint of sentimentalism.\n"There's always funny stuff going when your rival is playing you that makes you look back and laugh," he said. "There are a lot of good memories."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Josh Weinfuss at jweinfus@indiana.edu.