More on Bill Keightley

I had the chance to meet Bill Keightley the same day I met Tubby Smith in 1997 at the Jefferson County Big Blue call-in show at Oxmoor Mall. You can view my 2008 posting following the tragic death of Mr. Keightley here.

Nice write-up in the courier Journal by Byron Crawford

He is easily America's most famous Division I college basketball equipment manager.

Once described by CBS basketball analyst Clark Kellogg during an NCAA broadcast as the man who had done "so much for so many for so long," Bill Keightley -- "Mr. Wildcat" -- has just completed his 44th season with the University of Kentucky.

"Well, if you stay here as long as I have, many, many people are going to recognize you," said Keightley, 78, a former Lexington mail carrier.

Each time Southeastern Conference referee Gerald Boudreax, who is officiating at the Final Four this year, sees Keightley, he bows as though in the presence of royalty.

Friends have noted that, even in restaurants hundreds of miles from Lexington, Keightley is often interrupted numerous times during meals by fans of Kentucky and other SEC teams who want to say hello and ask for an autograph or photo.[...]

Keightley was walking alone down the hallway to the visitors' locker room at halftime of the South Carolina game in Columbia this season when he heard a voice say, "Hey, Bill, you're behind now, but you'll come back the second half."

Keightley looked up to see the smiling face of football coach Steve Spurrier, who remembered Keightley from the days when Spurrier was the football coach at Florida and sometimes visited the Kentucky basketball locker room.

As Keightley watched Duke sharpshooter J.J. Riddick drill three-pointers during an open shootaround before an NCAA Tournament game a few days ago, Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski stopped to say hello and to joke with Keightley that he had found Riddick in Eastern Kentucky.[...]

He has earned his familiarity with college basketball's biggest names on the sidelines of some of the most exciting games of the past 50 years.

He joined the Wildcats in 1961 when Adolph Rupp was coach, and some 1,368 games later has shared the Wildcat bench with head coaches Joe Hall, Eddie Sutton, Rick Pitino and Tubby Smith.

Keightley recalls that he has had something in common with each of the five coaches -- even Pitino.

"You have to change gears for Rick, because his cultural background was totally different from say, Eddie Sutton, who was a farm boy, and Tubby, who was a farm boy, and Rupp and Joe Hall, who both had farms. With Rick, the way we bonded was that he slept very little and I sleep very little. He'd call me at 6 o'clock in the morning, and we just grew from that," Keightley said. "He respected me, and he respected my age."

Keightley still occasionally gets humorous notes from Pitino, though he now guides the rival University of Louisville program.

Many former UK players still write to Keightley as well, and he enjoys a close friendship with Smith.

"As a human being, Tubby Smith is possibly the best person I've ever been around," Keightley said. "People think they can tell Tubby is congenial and caring, but they really don't know how deeply that runs. He relates to people from all walks of life … and gives the same time to everyone.

"Before every game, he goes down the scorer's table where all the workers sit and shakes every one of 'em's hand before every game. It's not for show, but this is just Tubby, and it means something to me … because that's a little bit the way I live my life, too."