It was recently brought to my attention that CollegeInsider.com
made a list of College Basketball’s 50 Sexiest Coaches of
2004.
As any curious female sports fan would, I naturally checked out
the online list when I got a chance.
After sifting through a dismal collection of college coaches on
pages one and two, I almost gave up on finding even one I would
agree was remotely attractive.
Finally, I hit the mother lode.
The featured coach on page three, who gets a full-body picture,
as opposed to just a head shot and bio, looked great. Angela Lento,
who compiled the list, even described him as having “the look
of a GQ cover boy.”
“Who is this coach?” you ask.
Lucky us, Bruin women.
It’s none other than Kerry Keating, assistant to UCLA
coach Ben Howland.
Lento also called our assistant coach, “the type of guy
you would like your daughter to bring home.” His bio praises
his great coaching skills, as well as a wonderful personality.
When asked about this honor, Keating naturally gave a quick
laugh.
“It’s nice to be recognized,” Keating said.
“A lot of the guys on the list do their job first, and this
is definitely a different way to recognize guys that work
hard.”
Without a doubt, Keating did his work before being hired to
Howland’s staff.
“It’s some type of reward for me to be here,”
Keating said. “And it’s important for me to do a good
job for Coach Howland.”
At Tennessee, where Keating was an assistant for two years, he
established himself as a top recruiter. His two recruiting classes
for Tennessee were highly ranked and his skills were praised by Ben
Howland at his hiring.
Interestingly, recruiting wasn’t the only thing that made
Keating famous at Tennessee.
When I asked Lento about Keating, she revealed to me that he was
also on CollegeInsider.com’s 2003 College Basketball’s
50 Most Eligible list.
A quick click of the mouse, and I found myself staring at Coach
Keating’s profile on the eligible list.
Strangely, it didn’t mention his skills as a recruiter.
Instead, it was a wealth of information on Keating’s life off
the court.
Lento began his bio by describing Keating as “the complete
package, as every woman in Knoxville already knows.”
I don’t think any UCLA fans knew that Howland was bringing
such a well-rounded coach to Westwood when Keating was hired.
Not only did the bio give his personal stats, but Lento got
Keating to reveal his feelings on everything from his blind date
experiences to the qualities he looks for in a woman.
Coach Keating’s biggest turn-on? “Simplistic
beauty.”
What he would like to know about someone before he went on a
date?
“If she knows that a pick and roll involves a ball and not
a nose.”
The first thing coach Keating notices about a woman?
“Her eyes.”
I’m beginning to wonder if these qualities are also on
Keating’s radar when he checks out prospective recruits.
I would tell you that my discovery of coach Keating would give
me a better reason to go to basketball games, but I won’t
lie. I’ve been a fan since before Jim Harrick led the 1995
team to the championship, and I’ll be a fan long after
Keating departs.
All these lists are definitely entertaining and fun for the
coaches, and if they attract more fans to the sports audience, more
power to them.
“I guess (the list) is a good promotion for UCLA as
well,” Keating said.
Whatever comes of it, Keating is just one more coach to keep a
tab on. Cheers to Howland for not only bringing a great assistant,
but a nice face to the UCLA bench.
If you have suggestions for a list of the Daily
Bruin’s 50 Sexiest Writers list, e-mail Masamitsu at
emasamitsu@media.ucla.edu.