Keady prepares for new IU coach

By Paul Trembacki
Sports Editor

Gene Keady is worried about tonight's game with Indiana.

He's unsure whether first-year Hoosiers coach Mike Davis will give him peppermint candy before the game like Bob Knight used to.

In recent years, during the handshake before each IU-Purdue encounter, Knight would slip Keady a piece of candy and Keady would have fresh breath for the rest of the game.

"The referees appreciate that," Keady said.

But peppermint candy won't be the only thing missing when the Boilers (12-5, 4-2 Big Ten) take on the Hoosiers (11-8, 2-3) at 7 tonight in Bloomington, Ind. The Knight-Keady matchup is no longer there.

"You've got to be a real nerd not to understand you're going to miss Bob because it was a challenge; it was always sort of fun and full of excitement and all that," Keady said. "It was a tremendous opportunity to play against the best and I always enjoyed that."

Keady, in his 21st season as the coach of the Boilermakers, and Knight, who was fired last summer after 28 years as coach of the Hoosiers, met 41 times during Knight's tenure. Keady's teams endured many close games and were victorious 21 times.

But now Keady, 64, will try to move to 1-0 against Davis, 40, who was an assistant under Knight for three seasons.

Keady said things will definitely be different. Under Davis, Indiana's offense and defense have changed. Instead of a motion offense, the Hoosiers use a high-low set that allows them to get points in the post as well as open 3-pointers. Defensively, Indiana pressures the ballhandler more.

"If I hadn't changed anything, then I wouldn't know what's going on and we'd probably be 8-11 instead of 11-8," Davis said.

Davis, who is still officially an interim coach, is the 25th coach in Indiana history. Keady, who has a deal that runs to 2003, is Purdue's 17th coach.

However, Keady knows he and Davis are simply parts of another chapter in a story that started when Purdue and Indiana first met on the hardwood Feb. 15, 1901, and the Boilers walked away with a 20-15 win.

"The game is always going to go on, no matter who's coaching," Keady said. "It's always going to be there and, in this state especially, it's going to be a game of importance — high importance."

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Keady prepares for new IU coach

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Boilers hope to avoid overconfidence

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Sports editor:
Paul Trembacki

Assistant sports editor:
Anne McLaren

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