Billy Keys

William Amar Keys (born October 26, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player and basketball coach. At a height of 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) and a weight of 210 pounds (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.

Billy Keys

Personal information
Born	(1977-10-26) October 26, 1977 (age 47) 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	Northeastern Illinois (1995–1998) New Mexico State (1998–2000)
NBA draft	2000: undrafted
Playing career	2000–2014
Position	Point guard
Coaching career	2014–present
Career history
As a 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 a coach:
2014–2015	Centennial HS (assistant)
2015–2019	Mayfield HS
2019–present	Northern New Mexico College (assistant)
Career highlights
CBA champion (2004)

College career

After 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

In 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

Keys 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]