Former Purdue basketball coach Gene Keady to be inducted into NJCAA Hall of Fame

Former Purdue basketball coach Gene Keady reached the pinnacle of his career last summer when he was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

This summer, Keady will earn another hall of fame plaque to go with his Naismith honor and his previous inductions into the College Basketball Hall of Fame and Kansas Sports Hall of Fame.

Keady is among six honorees announced for the National Junior College Athletic Association 2024 Hall of Fame class.

Keady, along with Artis Gilmore, Lin Laursen, Shawn Marion, Veronica Campbell Brown and Gene Bess, will participate in the Hall of Fame ceremonies in Charlotte on June 6.

More: Former Purdue basketball coach Gene Keady enshrined into Naismith Hall of Fame

More: Hall of Fame honors ‘one of the pillars’ in former Purdue basketball coach Gene Keady

Keady is being honored for his time playing football at Garden City Community College in Kansas as well as time as head coach at Hutchinson Community College.

Keady was an All-American quarterback at Garden City before going on to play at Kansas State and later being drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Keady’s college basketball coaching career started at Hutchinson where, after one year as an assistant, he became head coach and went 187-48, winning six Jayhawk Conference titles and finishing second in the NJCAA national tournament in 1973.

Keady would go on to be an assistant at Arkansas before becoming head coach at Western Kentucky and Purdue. Keady also won a gold medal as an assistant coach in the 2000 Olympics and as a head coach in the 1989 World University Games.

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Former Purdue coach Gene Keady receives NJCAA Hall of Fame honor