William Amar Keys (born October 26, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player and basketball coach. At a height of 6'2" (1.88 m) and a weight of 210 lbs. (95 kg), he played at the point guard position. He currently is a men's basketball assistant coach at Northern New Mexico College in Espanola, New Mexico.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 26, 1977 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Listed weight | 210 lb (95 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Hugh Manley (Chicago, Illinois) |
| College |
|
| NBA draft | 2000: undrafted |
| Playing career | 2000–2014 |
| Position | Point guard |
| Coaching career | 2014–present |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 2000–2001 | New Mexico Slam |
| 2001 | Grindavík |
| 2001 | Florida Sea Dragons |
| 2001–2002 | Fargo-Moorhead Beez |
| 2002 | Cocodrilos de Caracas |
| 2002–2003 | Hapoel Tel Aviv |
| 2003–2004 | Roseto |
| 2004 | Dakota Wizards |
| 2004 | Cocodrilos de Caracas |
| 2004–2005 | Dakota Wizards |
| 2005 | Gran Canaria |
| 2005–2006 | Zaragoza |
| 2006–2007 | Varese |
| 2007–2008 | AEL 1964 |
| 2008–2010 | Maroussi |
| 2010–2011 | Budivelnyk |
| 2011–2013 | Panionios |
| 2013–2014 | Nilan Bisons |
| As coach: | |
| 2014–2015 | Centennial HS (assistant) |
| 2015–2019 | Mayfield HS |
| 2019–present | Northern New Mexico College (assistant) |
College career
editAfter playing high school basketball at Hugh Manley High School in Chicago, Illinois, Keys played college basketball at Northeastern Illinois University, with the Northeastern Illinois Golden Eagles, from 1995 to 1998, and at New Mexico State University, with the New Mexico State Aggies, from 1998 to 2000. He was named to the 1999–00 season's All-Big West Conference First Team.
Professional career
editIn February 2001, Keys signed with Grindavík of the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild karla.[1] In his debut, he scored a season high 47 points along with 18 rebounds an 7 assists.[2] In three regular season games, he averaged 38.7 points, 12.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists.[3] In the playoffs, Grindavík lost to Tindastóll, 1–2, in the first round[4] with Keys averaging 26.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists.[5]
Keys played with the Miami Heat during their 2002–03 NBA season training camp, but he did not play in any official NBA games with the club. He then played with the New York Knicks' NBA Summer League team, in the summer of 2003. Keys then won the 2004 CBA championship with the Dakota Wizards.
In the summer of 2004, he played with the NBA Summer League teams of both the Detroit Pistons and the Denver Nuggets. He then played with Nuggets during their 2004–05 NBA season training camp, but he did not play in any official NBA games with the club. He next played with the NBA Summer League teams of both the Portland Trail Blazers and the Houston Rockets, in the summer of 2005.[6]
Keys also played in the three major European national domestic basketball leagues, the Italian LBA League, the Spanish ACB League, and the Greek Basket League. In 2009, he extended his contract with the EuroLeague club Maroussi.[7] He retired from playing professional basketball in 2014.
Coaching career
editKeys began his basketball coaching career in 2014, when he became an assistant coach at Centennial High School, in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He then became the head coach at Mayfield High School, in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 2015.[8]
References
edit- ^ "Daley farinn frá Grindavík". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 20 February 2001. p. 3B. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
- ^ "Lykillinn". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 2 March 2001. pp. 16–17. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
- ^ "William Keys: Ferillinn í úrvalsdeild". kki.is (in Icelandic). Icelandic Basketball Association. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
- ^ Björn Björnsson (21 March 2001). "Tindastóll loks áfram". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). p. 2C. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
- ^ "EPSON-deild úrsl.keppni – UMFG". kki.is (in Icelandic). Icelandic Basketball Association. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
- ^ "ACB.com – Billy Keys {{in lang|es}}". Archived from the original on 2012-09-27. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
- ^ Euroleague.net Maroussi re-signs point guard Billy Keys.
- ^ PREP BASKETBALL: Former Aggie Billy Keys takes over at Mayfield High.
External links
edit- Euroleague.net Profile
- Draftexpress.com Profile Archived 2011-10-20 at the Wayback Machine
- Eurobasket.com Profile
- Greek Basket League Profile
- Spanish League Profile (in Spanish)
- Italian League Profile Archived 2011-07-04 at the Wayback Machine (in Italian)
- Úrvalsdeild Profile (in Icelandic)