William Curry Keller (born August 30, 1947) is an American retired professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player.

High school career

Billy Keller, the 5'10"

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

, spent his entire basketball career in the state of

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. He attended

George Washington Community High School George Washington Community High School is a public school located in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, serving grades 9–12. About The school originally opened in 1927 as a traditional high school in the Haughville neighborhood of Indianap ...

, located in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

. He was named Indiana's Mr. Basketball his senior year.

College career

Keller attended

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

, located in

West Lafayette, Indiana West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister city, ...

, where he played under head coach

George King George King may refer to: Politics * George King (Australian politician) (1814–1894), New South Wales and Queensland politician * George King, 3rd Earl of Kingston (1771–1839), Irish nobleman and MP for County Roscommon * George Clift King (18 ...

. Alongside three-time All-American

Rick Mount Richard Carl Mount (born January 5, 1947) is a former American basketball player in the American Basketball Association (ABA). He was the first high school athlete to be featured on the cover of ''Sports Illustrated''. Early life Rick Mount's fath ...

and fellow Senior and co-captain

Herm Gilliam Herman L. Gilliam Jr. (May 5, 1946 – April 16, 2005) was an American professional basketball player. He was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. College career Herm Gilliam attended Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. He p ...

, he led the

Boilermakers A boilermaker is a tradesperson who fabricates steel, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Dep ...

to a

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

Title and to the school's first NCAA tournament appearance, making it to the NCAA Finals game in 1969. In 75 games, "Mr. Hustle" averaged 14.1 points game throughout his career and tallied a total of 1,056 points. He received the ''

Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award The Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award was an annual college basketball award in the United States intended to honor shorter-than-average players who excelled on the court despite their size. The award, named in honor of James Naismith's daughter-in-la ...

'' his senior year, which is given to the nation's best player under . After his Senior season at Purdue, he participated in the Kentucky-Indiana College All-Star Game, where he first played with a three-point line. Billy went 6 for 7 beyond the arc and discovered his specialty as a three-point shooter in the next level (the NCAA didn't have a standard three-point line until 1986-87 while the ABA did throughout its existence from 1967–76).

Professional career

Billy was the 2nd pick in the 7th round of the

1969 NBA Draft The 1969 NBA draft was the 23rd annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 7 and May 7, 1969, before the 1969–70 season. In this draft, fourteen NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college bas ...

to the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

, but only played for the ABA's

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

. Along with the likes of

George McGinnis George F. McGinnis (born August 10, 1950) is an American former professional basketball player who played 11 seasons in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted into the ABA from Indiana ...

and college teammate Rick Mount, he helped lead the Pacers to three

ABA Championships The England Boxing National Amateur Championships previously known as the ABA Championships is the premier boxing tournament hosted annually by England Boxing. The Championships are 'open' class: any Boxing, boxer who is registered with a club r ...

in '70, '72 and '73 and ABA Final appearances in '69 and '75. Keller would become one of the most successful shooters in ABA history, making 506

three-point field goal A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two poi ...

s during his seven-year career (second in league history behind only

Louie Dampier Louis Dampier (born November 20, 1944) is an American retired professional basketball player. A 6-foot-tall guard, Dampier is one of only a handful of men to play all nine seasons in the American Basketball Association (ABA) (1967–1976), all w ...

's 794) while leading the league in

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the Key (basketball), restricted ...

percentage two times in 1973 and 1976. He set an

ABA Playoffs ABA may refer to: Businesses and organizations Broadcasting * Alabama Broadcasters Association, United States * Asahi Broadcasting Aomori, Japanese television station * Australian Broadcasting Authority Education * Académie des Beaux- ...

record going 30-30 from the free throw line in the 1974-1975 season. He finished his 7-year ABA career averaging 11.8 points a game, with a .456 field goal percentage and scoring a total of 6,588 points.

Coaching career

Four years after his career in the ABA ended, Bill served as an assistant coach at his alma mater during the 1979-1980 under second year head coach, Lee Rose. He helped lead Purdue to an overall record of 23-10, including an NCAA Championship Game appearance. In 1978, the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) awarded Keller the Joe Boland Award for outstanding contributions to the youth of Indiana. Following the NCAA Final Four appearance, Bill returned to his hometown of Indianapolis and was named as the Head Basketball Coach at the

University of Indianapolis The University of Indianapolis (UIndy) is a private United Methodist Church-affiliated university in Indianapolis, Indiana. It offers Associate, Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees. It was founded in 1902 as Indiana Central University and ...

, replacing

Bill Bright William R. Bright (October 19, 1921 – July 19, 2003) was an American evangelist. In 1951 at the University of California, Los Angeles he founded Campus Crusade for Christ as a ministry for university students. In 1952 he wrote The Four Spir ...

; Keller was the head coach from 1980–81 through the 1986-87 seasons. Bill coached the Brebeuf Braves Girls varsity from 1979-1980

Head coaching record

In 1992, Keller was elected to the

Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame The Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame is a sports museum and hall of fame in New Castle, Indiana. While it honors men and women associated with high school, college, and professional basketball in Indiana, an emphasis is placed on the athlete's high ...

. He currently runs a series of basketball camps in his home state.

References

External links

Career stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keller, Billy 1947 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Indiana Basketball players from Indianapolis College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Indiana Pacers draft picks Indiana Pacers players Indianapolis Greyhounds men's basketball coaches Milwaukee Bucks draft picks Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Point guards Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball coaches Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball players Shooting guards