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VOLUME 26, ISSUE 2 53 the Three-Pete years from 1994-96, says his biggest takeaway from the Keady experience was the family at- mosphere he created. "From an everyday standpoint at work, my leadership style is similar to Coach," said Jennings, who has made a career in secondary educa- tion administration and now lives in Muskegon, Mich. "Not all of the rant- ing and raving that he did, of course, but in my current job, it's a heavy union situation where accountability is at a premium. With my leadership style, it is family first and Coach was always like that with us." Brian Cardinal, a four-year starting forward from 1997-2000, remains one of Keady's closest friends and leading disciples of the Keady message. Keady called Cardinal "probably the only player that wanted to win more than I did." "Well, he doesn't yell at me as of- ten," Cardinal said with a laugh about the changes to their relationship. "Our conversation has turned to fami- ly and the important things in life, but we share a very close bond. "After (wife) Pat passed away, it was hard for him, but I am glad he found Kathleen because she is not afraid to bust his chops a bit and keep him in line. She is perfect for Coach." It is clear at least in one measure that Kathleen has control over the Coach: His health. "Food," said Kathleen when she gets more specific about one of her biggest influences over the coach who recently has lost 55 pounds. "He exer- cises every morning and if he doesn't, he gets a very light breakfast so he works really hard at that. "We have similar personalities in a way. We both like sports — he plays golf every day and we go and watch some of the basketball games down here." In terms of score, Keady's golf game isn't quite what it used to be. He was a low-80s player in his prime but now has nestled in the 90s. "I can still swing fast," said Keady, making light of his skill on the course. "I just don't swing well." Keady won't say who his favorite players were, but he beams when talking about his coaching tree that in- cludes 10 former players or assistants that have head coaching jobs in col- lege hoops. He also remains extremely close to Curt Clawson, a congressman from Florida. But when he rattles off former players who were important to him, the list goes from Troy Lewis to Glenn Robinson to Cuonzo Martin and continues until Keady is almost out of breath. Yet, it never seems to take Keady long to revert to — and preach — his core coaching philosophy, something he used well as the school's all-time winningest coach for 25 seasons (1981-2005). "I don't really have favorite teams or players because I never played fa- vorites," Keady said. "I played people that produced and people who de- served it and worked the hardest in practice. Like Coach (John) Wooden would say, 'You win or lose games in practice.' So that's what I believe and would always try to coach." Now that sounds like a guy that isn't too far removed from the basket- ball sideline. And with Keady, basket- ball will be with him until he leaves this Earth. j