Former Peoria Bergan boys basketball coach and Bradley assistant Rudy Keeling died Saturday at Londonderry, N.H., after a year-long battle with a brain tumor. He was 64.
The New York City native graduated from Quincy College (now University) in 1970 majoring in history. In 1977, he was named head coach at Bergan, directing the Trojans to second place in the Class A state finals that season.
He spent one more season at Bergan before moving onto Dick Versace?s staff at Bradley from 1980-86.
?We had Tommy Massimino, Rudy and myself (in 1985-86) and won 32 games,? Versace said Saturday night. ?It wasn?t all because of me. It was the best staff I ever had, and Rudy was a major, major part of it.
?The basketball, the recruiting, the dealing with players and tutoring ? he was a great guy, a great friend, a great coach.?
While at Bradley, Keeling planned and created the academic assistance program for student-athletes.
Keeling went on to become Marquette?s primary recruiter before being named the head coach at Maine for eight years. He went 106-122 at Maine before moving on to Northeastern for four years, compiling a 48-92 record.
Keeling then went into administration, becoming the athletics director at Emerson College in Boston.
In 2007, Keeling became the commissioner of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). He was the first African-American to serve in that position.
Keeling, who lived in Londonderry during his ECAC tenure, retired from his post in January.
Keeling was responsible for establishing the ECAC as the host for the NCAA Division I Men?s Hockey Frozen Four in 2014 in Philadelphia.Keeling and his wife, Jane, raised four children.
Dave Reynolds can be reached at 686-3210 or dreynolds@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @davereynolds2.
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