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Bobby Keith, former head coach of Clay County High School basketball team, shook hands and talked with friends before being inducted into the The Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame at the Crowne Plaza Hotel._By Geoff Oliver Bugbee, Special to the Courier-Journal_April 29, 2009
Bobby Keith, who coached the Clay County High School boys basketball team to more than 700 victories and won the Sweet 16 championship in 1987, died Wednesday. He was 75.
WYMT-TV reported Keith died from an apparent heart attack Wednesday afternoon. He had been hospitalized in July after battling health issues for several months but later returned home.
Keith stepped down as the Tigers’ head coach in 1999 after compiling a 767-125 record and winning 18 regional championships over 29 seasons. He currently ranks fifth on Kentucky’s career victories list for boys basketball coaches and was named The Courier-Journal’s Boys Basketball Coach of the Year three straight seasons from 1987-89.
Behind the sharp shooting of guard Richie Farmer, Keith and the Tigers reached three state finals in four seasons from 1985-88. The Tigers lost to Hopkinsville 65-64 in the 1985 final, beat Ballard 76-73 in overtime in the 1987 final and fell to Ballard 88-79 in the 1988 final.
Those two Ballard teams were coached by Scott Davenport, who now is the men’s basketball coach at Bellarmine University.
“There’s never been a coach at any level of any sport that had more pride in their team that Bobby Keith, because he grew up there and went to school there and coached there,” Davenport said. “Clay County was Bobby Keith, and Bobby Keith was Clay County.”
Keith’s love for Clay County continued long after his coaching career ended. When Clay County’s girls basketball teams reached the state tournament, Keith often could be found cheering in the front row of the student section.
“As a person he was impeccable, and as a coach he loved the game,” Davenport said. “He taught the game. He didn’t just coach. He taught the game of basketball and the game of life.”
Funeral arrangements were not immediately available.
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.
