William (Bill) Bond Keightley (December 17, 1926 – March 31, 2008) was the

equipment manager An equipment manager is the person in charge of equipment used by a business or organization. Their duties include purchasing, maintenance, repair, inventory, transportation, storage, cleaning, and liquidation. They are responsible for providing t ...

for the University of Kentucky men's basketball team, a position he held for 48 year

Known affectionately to most as "Mr. Wildcat," players referred to him as "Mr. Bill" or "Big Smooth."Crawford, "Mr. Bill"

Early life and career

Keightley was an All-State center (basketball), center for now-defunct Kavanaugh High School in

Lawrenceburg, Kentucky Lawrenceburg is a home rule-class city in Anderson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 10,505 at the 2010 census. It is the seat of its county. Lawrenceburg is part of the Frankfort, Kentucky, micropolitan statistical area. His ...

.Crawford, "The time is right" He graduated in 1944.Story, "Fan Club" He enlisted with the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

, and served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

.Bio at UKAthletics.com Keightley was working as a postal carrier in 1962 when fellow postal employee George Hukle asked him to become his assistant at his other job—equipment manager for the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

basketball team. Keightley accepted the position; ten years later, he succeeded Hukle as equipment manager. He held the post during the tenures of coaches

Adolph Rupp Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was an American college basketball coach. He is ranked seventh in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching at the Univ ...

, Joe B. Hall,

Eddie Sutton Edward Eugene Sutton (March 12, 1936 – May 23, 2020) was an American college basketball coach. A native of Bucklin, Kansas, Sutton played college basketball at Oklahoma A&M (later Oklahoma State) and was a head coach at the high school, junio ...

Rick Pitino Richard Andrew Pitino (born September 18, 1952) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach for Iona College. He was also the head coach of Greece's senior national team. He has been the head coach of several teams in NCAA D ...

Tubby Smith Orlando Henry "Tubby" Smith (born June 30, 1951) is an American college basketball coach. He was the men's basketball coach at High Point University, his alma mater. Smith previously served in the same role at the University of Tulsa, the Univers ...

, and

Billy Gillispie Billy Clyde Gillispie ( ; born November 7, 1959), also known by his initials BCG and Billy Clyde, is an American college basketball and current men's basketball coach at Tarleton State. Gillispie had previously been head coach at UTEP, Texas A ...

Honors and awards

*Keightley was on three NCAA Championship teams (

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

) with the Wildcats. He wore one championship ring on each hand and kept the third ring in his pocket. *In 1997, the university retired a jersey in honor of Keightley. He and broadcaster Cawood Ledford are the only two people who did not play for or coach the Wildcats that have received such an honor. For the 2009 season, the jersey was given the number #48 to reflect his 48 years of service (previously it simply read "UK" for the number) *In 2001, Keightley was featured on special edition bottles of

Maker's Mark Maker's Mark is a small-batch bourbon whisky produced in Loretto, Kentucky, by Beam Suntory. It is bottled at 90 U.S. proof (45% alcohol by volume) and sold in squarish bottles sealed with red wax. The distillery offers tours, and is part of ...

bourbon Bourbon may refer to: Food and drink * Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash * Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * A beer produced by Bras ...

.Faris, "How Dry Am I?" *In 2002, the university presented the first Bill Keightley Award. The award is given to "the individual who understands and exemplifies the pride, respect and the positive attributes associated with being a part of the Kentucky basketball program."2001-02 Kentucky Wildcats *In 2005, he was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the university's annual "Catspy" awards.Division of Athletic Training, Alumni News *On May 2, 2007, Keightley was inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame.HallofFameMagazine.com *On October 11, 2008 during Midnight Madness, Keightley was honored at the home bench of the

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...

where his seat was. His daughter Karen and his fellow equipment manager assistants pulled off a piece of the basketball court as a memorial to remember him by. During that season, the "K" (in KENTUCKY) on the front of the player's jerseys was done in black as a tribute. *Several oral history interviews with Keightley were conducted by the

Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History The Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, also known as The Nunn Center, the University of Kentucky, is one of the premier oral history centers in the world, known for a comprehensive oral history archival collection, ongoing interviewing projects, ...

at the University of Kentucky Libraries between 2005 and 2007 and can be accessed online
William B. Keightley Oral History Project
*In the 2013–14 season, Kentucky's men's basketball team scheduled a series of home games called the Keightley Classic in Keightley's honor.

Family

Keightley was married to Hazel (Robinson) Keightley. The couple had one daughter, Karen, who formerly worked at the university's

veterinary science Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

center, and is now employed with the athletic department. Keightley was an avid fan of the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

Death

Keightley died on March 31, 2008 after suffering a fall from a bus on his way to the season opening

baseball game versus the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

. The cause of death was internal bleeding caused by a previously undiagnosed tumor on his spine. His memorial service was attended by many prominent basketball coaches, including

Billy Donovan William John Donovan Jr. (born May 30, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He has served as head coach of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) since September 2020 after previously coa ...

Rick Stansbury Richard Lee Stansbury (born December 23, 1959), is an American college basketball and the current head coach of the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team. He was previously the head coach at Mississippi State. He was hired as the WKU head c ...

, and

John Pelphrey John Leslie Pelphrey (born July 18, 1968) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach of the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles. After being named Kentucky Mr. Basketball in 1987, he became a star college player at the University ...

(also a former Kentucky player). Many other former Kentucky basketball players attended as well, including former Louisville Cardinal player Ellis Myles. The Wildcats did not hire a new equipment manager for the 2009 season and in fact left his chair on the bench empty for the season. As an additional tribute, the first "K" in "KENTUCKY" on the players jerseys for the 2009 season was black outlined.

References

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Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keightley, Bill 1926 births 2008 deaths United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II People from Lawrenceburg, Kentucky Sportspeople from Lexington, Kentucky Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball