Kevin Keathley offered coaching gig at Louisiana?

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I found this article from a while back now. Any clue on "what's up"? Should have heard by now..........





Our Take: CBA head coach interviews for spot on Lee's staff
Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • April 26, 2009

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The next move in the career path for Kevin Keathley could be with the UL men's basketball team.


Keathley, 31, has spent the past two years as the head coach for the Continental Basketball Association's East Kentucky Miners.

The 10-year coaching veteran is known for his up-tempo offensive system, similar to the dribble-drive motion offense created by former Pepperdine coach Vance Walberg. The offense has been modified by coach John Calipari at Memphis and now Kentucky.

When reached for comment on Friday afternoon, Keathley confirmed that he interviewed at UL earlier in the week and was interested in the Cajuns, but that "nothing is official" about him joining the program. He said he has recently turned down a job in the NBA Development League and a couple of college jobs.

UL coach Robert Lee is looking to replace assistants Byron Starks and Jai Steadman, both of whom recently turned in letters of resignation but will remain on the job until their 12-month appointments expire in June.

"I enjoyed my visit," said Keathley, who has also been a head coach in the American Basketball Association and an assistant in college, the ABA and the United Pro Basketball League. "I think there's a lot of potential at the school. After coach Lee contacted me, I started doing research about the program and the players there.

"I believe that there is an opportunity to do so really special things down there."

Later Friday afternoon, Keathley received a surprise job offer from a professional team in Indiana. He did not comment on that situation but has told East Kentucky co-owner Jay Fiedler he will likely not return to the Miners next season due to the CBA's cloudy future.

Last season, the CBA season was canceled in February for financial reasons. Only two of the four current CBA teams have committed to play during the 2009-10 season.

David Walker, UL's athletic director, said on Friday afternoon that he has yet to receive a written recommendation from Lee to hire Keathley. Multiple sources close to the situation told theadvertiser.com that will likely happen early next week and that Keathley was expected to accept a job with the Cajuns, but that was before he was offered a position with a pro team in Indiana on Friday.

Lee said he could not comment on UL's coaching search until after the job ad for those two openings had been posted for five days. According to multiple sources, Keathley was recommended for the job by someone close to Lee.

Keathley, a native of South Carolina, did speak about the offensive philosophy UL would adopt if he was added to the coaching staff. He said to play at a high tempo, it all starts with players being in top-notch physical condition. The easiest points are scored off the rebound when a team beats the defense on the fastbreak and converts a high-percentage shot.

If there's no open shot off the break, he wants his players to pull the ball back out and look for a defensive weakness or the player with a hot hand at the time. Proper spacing in the half court is vital to creating open lanes to the basket and keeping defenders from sagging into the paint.

That philosophy has produced big numbers for Keathley. East Kentucky has led the CBA in scoring and free throws each of the past two seasons.

During the 2008-09 season, the Miners went 11-7 and averaged 115 points per game. Keathley was named the CBA's Coach of the Month in December. In '07-08, the team posted a 26-22 record and scored 111 points a night.

"The saying I've had for a while around here is 'We're going to run all day, run all night and run a little longer,'" Keathley said. "It doesn't matter if you try to prepare for that. Eventually, at some point in the game, your opponent is going to have their back turned. I want our guys to get out and be excited about it.

"I think guys like to play that style of play."

After playing guard and graduating from Betsy Lane High in Kentucky in 1995, Keathley went to Eastern Kentucky University planning to walk-on the basketball team, but a leg injury prematurely ended his playing days.

Keathley shifted his focus to coaching and got his first job in 1998 as an assistant at Lees College, a NAIA school in Jackson, Ky. (In 2004, he earned his undergraduate degree from Murray State.)

He later worked as an interim head coach at the school before the program was dissolved following the 1999-2000 season. For the 2000-01 season, he coached at a local high school, Jackson City High.

In 2001-02, Keathley was an assistant at St. Catharine College, now a NAIA program in Catharine, Ky. That season the team averaged 95.6 points per game.

Keathley spent the next two seasons as the associate coach and director of basketball operations for the Louisville Eagles of the UPBL. The team won the 2003 league championship.

After that, Keathley worked two seasons as the head coach of the ABA's Kentucky Colonels. He was named the 2005 ABA Coach of the Year and was the youngest coach in pro basketball at the time. In 2006, he was also honored as one of the top 10 young coaches by probasketballnews.com.

Keathley spent part of the 2006-07 season as an assistant head coach for the ABA's Rio-Grande Valley Silverados.

In addition to spending the past two years in the CBA with the Miners, Keathley wrote the book "Hardwood Constitution: A Blueprint to Coaching Success."