BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Two Indiana basketball legends paid a visit ahead of March Madness Wednesday.
Former Purdue University coach Gene Keady shared a photo on Facebook of his visit with former Indiana University coach Bob Knight.
"Took an afternoon drive to Bloomington to see Bob & Karen Knight. It was great catching up and reminiscing!" Keady wrote.
The pair faced off 41 times as part of the IU-Purdue rivalry, with Keady holding a 21-20 advantage. Despite the rivalry, the coaches have been friends since the late 1970s, when they met through then-Arkansas coach Eddie Sutton, for whom Keady was an assistant.
"There are a lot of men in my life who influenced my life, and Bob is one of them," Keady, now 85, said in a 2017 interview.
"In all my time coaching, nobody ever worked harder at playing or worked harder at winning than Gene Keady," Knight, 81, said.
Keady won 512 games in 25 seasons in West Lafayette, while Knight won 659 games and three national championships in 29 years with the Hoosiers.
The coaching legends have paid one another regular visits in recent years. In Feb. 2020, they were honored together at halftime of an Indiana Pacers game.