Kyle Keller
Kyle Edward Keller (born January 16, 1968) is an American basketball coach, currently the head coach for the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks men's basketball team. Previously, he served as an assistant coach at Texas A&M, Kansas, Oklahoma State, UTSA, Louisiana Tech and head coach at Tyler Junior College.
 | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Stephen F. Austin |
| Conference | Southland |
| Record | 28–41 (.406) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | January 16, 1968 Dallas, Texas |
| Alma mater | Oklahoma State |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1990–1994 | Louisiana Tech (assistant) |
| 1994–1996 | Tyler JC (assistant) |
| 1996–1997 | UTSA (assistant) |
| 1997–1999 | Tyler JC |
| 1999–2008 | Oklahoma State (assistant) |
| 2008–2011 | Kansas (assistant) |
| 2011–2016 | Texas A&M (assistant) |
| 2016–present | Stephen F. Austin |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 28–41 (.406) |
| Tournaments | 0–1 (NCAA Division I) 0–1 (CIT) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| |
Early coaching career
Keller started his coaching career as an assistant at Louisiana Tech. After a four-year stint, Keller joined the staff at Tyler Junior College before taking a position as an assistant at Texas-San Antonio for one season. In 1997, Keller returned to Tyler Junior College and accepted his first head coaching job. Keller joined the staff of head coach Eddie Sutton at Oklahoma State in 1999, where he would remain until 2008. Keller's time in Stillwater was marred by the plane crash that killed 10 players and staffers in early 2001, including Keller's cousin, Nate Fleming, who replaced Keller on the plane during a last-minute switch. Keller's experience and that of Fleming's family in the aftermath of the crash was documented by ESPN's Outside the Lines in 2011.[1] Following the resignation of then-head coach Sean Sutton in 2008, Keller relocated to Kansas where he served as an assistant to Bill Self. After three seasons, Keller became an assistant to Billy Kennedy at Texas A&M. In 2016, Keller accepted the head coaching position at Stephen F. Austin following the departure of Brad Underwood to Oklahoma State.[2]
Head coaching career
Stephen F. Austin
On April 4, 2016, Keller was hired as the head coach at Stephen F. Austin. He replaced Brad Underwood who left after 3 seasons to become the head coach at Oklahoma State. SFA athletic director Robert Hill said in a statement, "Kyle brings a wealth of experience having worked for great coaches like Eddie Sutton, Bill Self and Billy Kennedy. This experience will fit well to continue our SFA basketball culture of winning championships and making NCAA tournament appearances. He cares deeply for his players and is a wonderful husband and father. We are so happy he has agreed to become a Lumberjack. I look forward to having our fans and students get to know him."[2]
Keller won his first game as a Division I head coach against the Longwood Lancers on November 15, 2016.[3] Keller led Stephen F. Austin to an 18–15 record in his first season. In 2017–18, Stephen F. Austin finished 28–7, won the 2018 Southland Tournament as the no. 3 seed, and appeared in the NCAA Tournament. However, Keller went only 14–16 in his third season with Stephen F. Austin in 2018–19.
On November 26, 2019, Stephen F. Austin upset no. 1 Duke 85–83 in overtime, giving Duke their first non-conference home loss in 150 games.[4] Stephen F. Austin finished the 2019–20 season with a 28–3 (19–1 Southland) record and the regular season Southland title.[5] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Southland and NCAA tournaments were cancelled.
Following the discovery of an administrative error in declaring student-athletes eligible, on May 20, 2020, Stephen F. Austin reached an agreement with the NCAA to vacate hundreds of wins across multiple sports from 2013 to 2019, including all 117 men's basketball wins from the 2014–15 to 2018–19 seasons.[6][7]
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (Southland Conference) (2016–present) | |||||||||
| 2016–17 | Stephen F. Austin | 0–15 | 0–6 | T–2nd (vacated) | CIT First Round (vacated) | ||||
| 2017–18 | Stephen F. Austin | 0–7 | 0–4 | 3rd (vacated) | NCAA Division I Round of 64 (vacated) | ||||
| 2018–19 | Stephen F. Austin | 0–16 | 0–11 | T–9th (vacated) | |||||
| 2019–20 | Stephen F. Austin | 28–3 | 19–1 | 1st | No postseason held | ||||
| 2020–21 | Stephen F. Austin | 8–2 | 4–0 | ||||||
| Stephen F. Austin: | 96–43 (.394) | 56–22 (.463) | |||||||
| Total: | 88–41 (.406) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
Personal
A native of Dallas, Texas, Keller attended Oklahoma State University where he played baseball. He is married to Chaunsea Keller and has two children: Kenzie and Kemper.[2]
References
- "OTL: Story of OSU plane crash, 10 years later". Outside the Lines. ESPN. 2011-01-26. Archived from the original on 2011-01-29. Retrieved 2017-01-28.
- "Kyle Keller". SFAJacks.com. Stephen F. Austin State University. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
- "First-year coach Kyle Keller gets 1st victory with SFA". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2017-01-28.
- McCreary, Joedy (November 27, 2019). "Stephen F. Austin Stuns No. 1 Duke, 85-83 In OT". Associated Press. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
- https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/stephen-f-austin/2020-schedule.html
- "NCAA Negotiated Resolution Agreement: What It Means for SFA". SFAJacks.com. Stephen F. Austin State University. May 20, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
- Rieken, Kristie (May 20, 2020). "Stephen F. Austin Gets Postseason Bans; Agrees To Sanctions". Associated Press. Retrieved June 5, 2020.