A mellower Keady? Not on the court

Steve Addy

Friday, March 24, 2000 | 9:16 a.m.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Gene Keady loves his golf, but he's no fool.

The Purdue basketball coach said Thursday he'd rather sink a 20-foot putt against his pals than pad his voluminous resume with a Final Four appearance.

From his tone, it was difficult to tell if he was joking or had actually lost his mind.

You can rest easy, Purdue fans. Your hyperkinetic coach still has command of his faculties, and he has his Boilermakers within one victory of his first Final Four in 20 success-filled seasons at the school.

Sixth-seeded Purdue (24-9) will meet eight-seeded Wisconsin (21-13) at 1:40 p.m. Sunday for the NCAA West Regional title and a trip to Indianapolis next weekend.

Purdue's campus in West Lafayette, Ind., is barely an hour from Indianapolis. The Boilermakers' goal is to go home, but in the advancing sense, not the eliminated sense. To get there, they'll have to fight off -- perhaps literally -- a Wisconsin squad that is every bit Purdue's equal in terms of scrappiness and defensive reliance.

It will be the teams' fourth meeting of the season, and Wisconsin has won the last two. In both camps, practically everyone expects a game that could be best characterized by a clenched fist. Their meeting in the Big Ten tournament two weeks ago resulted in collisions, cuts and bruises.

"It's two Big Ten teams playing each other, and anytime you have that, it's going to be a very physical game," Wisconsin center Matt Vershaw said.

"They know us and we know them," Badgers forward Mark Kowske said. "It will come down to who executes the best."

"It's like we are playing ourselves," Purdue grinder Brian Cardinal said. "Wisconsin plays a very physical style. They are intense. They get after you. They knock you around. If we are not prepared for it, we're not going to do very well."

Though the Badgers are easy to root for, with their professorial 56-year-old coach Dick Bennett and a defensive work ethic envied by his fellow coaches, there's also a reason to cheer Purdue.

Keady has been one of the best coaches in the country for two decades, posting a 439-190 record and .697 winning percentage since joining Purdue in 1980. But despite making 16 NCAA Tournament appearances, Keady's teams have never made the Final Four. Of his five Sweet 16 teams, only the 1994 club got to the Elite Eight, then that club was eliminated by Duke in the regional final.

Though the 63-year-old Keady says he has no intention of retiring, there's a feeling around the team that time is running out on his Final Four opportunities.

"I think it's in the back of everybody's mind that we'd like to get to the Final Four and give Coach that missing piece of the puzzle," Cardinal said.

"It's our job to get him there," Purdue forward Greg McQuay said.

Keady has downplayed his personal agenda -- hence, the golf remark -- but he understands people are rooting for him.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, whose team is in Elite Eight, said, "Sometimes, I think he gets judged on what he has or hasn't accomplished in the Tournament. I'd give my right arm to win as many Big Ten titles as he has. Sentimentally, I think he deserves to be in the Final Four."

To many fans, Keady is the foot-stomping, arm-waving coach who wears a perpetual scowl, but the image is somewhat outdated. Many close to the program insist Keady has mellowed in the last few years, taking more enjoyment in his players' development and not fussing over every bad call by the referees.

"You guys all make a big deal out of his scowl," point guard Carson Cunningham said. "But he is really just a good person. It's the behind-the-scenes stuff that people don't have knowledge of where he's probably at his best. He's tough and he expects certain things, but he is willing to hear you out. I think he's interested in teaching."

Keady said he doesn't know if he's mellowed, but he concedes, "Maybe I'm a little more patient and I understand the kids of this generation better than I wanted to five or seven years ago."

Wisconsin coach Bennett said a mellower Keady shouldn't be misinterpreted as a coach who's less dedicated, less prepared or less interested in winning.

"I think Gene Keady may have the patent on intensity -- getting people to play hard," Bennett said. "That's been a cornerstone of his program and his coaching. When you play a team coached by this man, you tighten your belt buckle, pull up your socks, lace your shoes really tight and know there will be quarter given and none asked."