| Frank Keaney | |
| Birth Date: | 5 June 1886 |
| Birth Place: | Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Wakefield, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Player Sport1: | Football |
| Player Years2: | c. 1910 |
| Player Team2: | Bates |
| Player Sport3: | Baseball |
| Player Years4: | c. 1910 |
| Player Team4: | Bates |
| Coach Sport1: | Basketball |
| Coach Years2: | 1920–1948 |
| Coach Team2: | Rhode Island State |
| Coach Sport3: | Football |
| Coach Years4: | 1917–1919 |
| Coach Team4: | Everett HS (MA) |
| Coach Years5: | 1920–1940 |
| Coach Team5: | Rhode Island State |
| Coach Sport6: | Baseball |
| Coach Years7: | 1921–1948 |
| Coach Team7: | Rhode Island State |
| Admin Years1: | 1920–1956 |
| Admin Team1: | Rhode Island State / Rhode Island |
| Overall Record: | 401–124 (college basketball) 70–86–12 (college football) 222–113–1 (college baseball) |
| Championships: | Football 3 New England (1931, 1933, 1938) Basketball 16 New England (1924, 1929–1931, 1933–1935, 1937–1943, 1945, 1946) |
| Baskhof Year: | 1960 |
| Baskhof Id: | frank-keaney |
| Cbbaskhof Year: | 2006 |
Frank William "Menty" Keaney (June 5, 1886 – October 10, 1967) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach and college athletics administrator. As a college men's basketball coach, he was known as the architect of modern "run-and-shoot" basketball and the inventor of the fast break.[1]
Keaney was a native of Boston, Massachusetts, and attended Cambridge Latin School, graduating in 1906. He graduated from Bates College, where he played several sports, in 1911.[2] He was the head football coach at Everett High School in Massachusetts from 1917 to 1919. He coached at Rhode Island State College (now the University of Rhode Island) from 1920 to 1948 and taught a style of basketball using a fast-breaking offense and a full-court defense. In his 28 years at Rhode Island, Keaney's basketball Rams won eight conference championships and had only one losing season.[3] In 1939, Keaney's Rams became the first college team to score more than 50 points per game, and in 1943 the team had an average of more than two points per minute (80.7 points per game), which led to the Rams being dubbed "The Firehouse Gang". During his tenure the URI team had four National Invitation Tournament appearances. Keaney's career record with the men's basketball team was 401–124 (.764).
After retiring from coaching collegiate basketball, Keaney was offered the position of head coach of the Boston Celtics.[4] Keaney's doctor, however, refused to let him take the job. He remained at URI as athletic director until 1959. The university named the Frank W. Keaney Gymnasium-Armory in his honor in 1953. Keaney was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1960.