Purdue's Final Four Link: Billy Keller

Purdue Hall of Fame guard Billy Keller has had a distinguished career in basketball.

Indiana Mr. Basketball, Indiana Pacers legend, long-time coach and basketball camp director. He has done many things in basketball including being a good will ambassador for the sport for eight decades.

But he has also done something that no one has done. He’s been a part of both of Purdue’s previous appearances in the Final Four. In 1969, he was the one that ran the show, a 1960s version of a point guard on the national runner-up and leading scoring team in the nation.

“My job was to break the pressure, and get the ball to Rick (Mount), And he could shoot it like no other, but we also had some other guys on that team that new their roles and bought in.”

Eleven years later, he was the assistant coach on Lee Rose’s staff when the No. 6-seed Boilermakers made a surprise run to the Final Four and an eventual third-place tournament finish.

His experiences couldn’t have been more different, at least in terms of team dynamics.

“In 1969, we became a close-knit group, and that took some doing, but we made it,” Keller said. “In 1980, and maybe because I was a coach, but I didn’t feel we were as close. Some players, especially most, but not all the starters, loved (Coach) Lee (Rose), and some really struggled with him.

“”There was a level of turmoil there, but we pulled it together at the right time and had remarkable success.”

Keller was in some ways caught in the middle. He was coached by George King, who was the athletic director that hired Rose. For a myriad of reasons Rose and King’s relationship cooled not longer after Rose’s arrival.

Rose had success, big time at Purdue. His first Purdue team won a share share of the Big Ten crown and was a runner-up finish in the NIT. It was snubbed by the NCAA as conferences were allowed only two bids in the 40-team tournament. In Year 2, Purdue finished third in the Big Ten, but with the NCAA Tournament now consisted of 48 teams, so Purdue was invited to the dance.

Despite the success on the court and for a myriad of reasons, Rose didn’t endear himself to the Boilermaker athletic administration. Deep into the 1980 Big Ten season, rumors were swirling that Rose was looking elsewhere.

“Lee wasn’t happy, but that didn’t show in the team’s play on the court,” Keller said. “He at times degraded lesser players, and that caused a rift between the players and the coach. But for most of the guys who did the heavy lifting, they played and played hard for Lee. And the results spoke for themselves.

” So I think I think “Lee had had really a brilliant basketball IQ in many, many areas. He was just rough around the edges, in my recollection, when he dealt with players.”

Purdue lost in the 1980 national semifinal to eighth-seed UCLA but beat Iowa in the consolation game to finish third. Less than a week later, Rose was off to South Florida, and Keller was pondering his future. When Gene Keady was hired to replace Rose a couple of weeks later, Keller had a chance to remain an assistant on Keady’s staff.

Keller decided to take the head coaching position at Indiana Central (now UIndy) a spot he held for seven years. After that Keller ran several basketball camps and clinics and did work for the Indiana Pacers, a team he spent seven years with.

“I have had a great career in basketball; I am so fortunate,” Keller said.

Keller, who spends most of his time in Florida but has family in Indiana, was happy to make it to Mackey Arena this year. He couldn’t be happier that the Boilermakers are back in the Final Four.

“Fletcher (Loyer) throwing the ball 30 feet in the air at the end of the win against Tennessee, was just about how all around basketball felt,” Keller said. “Boilermaker nation felt relieved to celebrate.”

Keller loves the comparisons of his play to Braden Smith’s. The duo are considered two of the top point guards in Purdue history along with Bruce Parkinson.

“Braden plays so fast, and he is the master of setting up things for Zach,” Keller said. ” I’ve always believed that a point guard has to have two different personalities. He has to have an on-court personality and off-court personality. And I would imagine, though I don’t know Braden personally, that he definitely has the confidence to speak up with Coach (Matt) Painter, and it is evident the coach really listens to him. He needs to be the t spark on the floor make sure they’re doing what’s supposed to do. He’s got that leadership attitude.

“Off the floor. I think he’s probably one of the guys What I’ve heard is he’s a quiet kid.’

It takes one to know one for Keller. And Keller is happy to see history repeating itself with Smith and the performance of the entire Purdue team.

“Matt has a great thing going, and I like Purdue’s chances this weekend and long into the future. I has been fun”

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