Keathley, Tucker Coaching Ties
August 9, 2007 - Continental Basketball Association 1 (CBA 1)
East Kentucky Miners News Release
PIKEVILLE, KY. - One thing for certain: the 2007-08 season will be a campaign of firsts for the East Kentucky Miners. More than one heated rivalry is bound to develop. An expansion team in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), East Kentucky is under the guidance of head coach Kevin Keathley. During the upcoming season, Keathley will coach against the rest of the tradition-rich CBA, a professional basketball league that now includes former NBA standout player Kenny Anderson as head coach of the Atlanta Krunk. Paul Woolpert, who has guided the Yakima Sun Kings to back-to-back CBA championships, is considered to be the CBA coaching dean. However, the one matchup the Miners mentor is looking most forward to during the debut season is a Nov. 26 home game versus the Rio Grande Valley Silverados of Texas, the newest CBA team. The matchup will feature Keathley facing his previous team. Keathley worked with the Silverados as an assistant coach before accepting the head coaching position with the Miners. Developing an early rivalry versus Pittsburgh - the first opponent both home and away - is a given for the Miners. Due to Keathley's coaching history, Rio Grande Valley also turns into a natural rival for the East Kentucky team.
The early-season East Kentucky-Rio Grande Valley game has intrigue written all over it. Coaching veteran Steve Tucker is the Rio Grande Valley head coach. Keathley and Tucker have a long history together. The two basketball coaches worked together nearly nine years ago in the college ranks. Tucker was the head coach while Keathley was a young assistant coach entering his second year in the profession. "I had the privilege to work for one of the very best coaches in the profession at a very young age and as a result was able to learn a great deal from him," Keathley said, referring to Tucker. "He was as organized and detailed as any coach with whom I've ever worked." Keathley and Tucker share a passion for the game. "Coach (Tucker) brings passion and intensity to every single minute of the day," Keathley commented. "He wants to be the very best and expects no less from those around him."
After a successful college campaign together, Keathley and Tucker went their separate ways. But the two always kept in touch on a regular basis. The next time they would be on the same basketball floor would be as opponents. The situation shaped up on the pro level in the American Basketball Association (ABA) with Keathley as head coach of the Kentucky Colonels and Tucker as head coach of the Texas Tycoons. "The irony of that game is that it was my first game as head coach of the Kentucky Colonels and the opponent was Coach Tucker," Keathley recalled. "Of all the places for us to be coaching and all the times for it to be my first game; it was definitely on edge that night. We were able to pull out the win in that one. Coach (Tucker) still jokes with me that I had home-cooking on the floor that night." Keathley welcomes the challenge of taking on a fellow head coach that he's worked under.
"I'm looking forward to November 26," Keathley added. "I know Coach (Tucker) will have his guys ready to play and he'll be coming in to beat me as bad as he can. I'm going to do the same, but once the game's over, we will give each other a hug around the neck and root one another on during the rest of the season. I'm very thankful to Coach (Tucker) for his guidance on basketball and his friendship off of the floor. He's an outstanding coach."
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Continental Basketball Association 1 Stories from August 9, 2007
- Keathley, Tucker Coaching Ties - East Kentucky Miners
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