Frank Keaney

Frank William "Menty" Keaney (June 5, 1886 – October 10, 1967) was a college men's basketball coach known as the architect of modern "run-and-shoot" basketball and the inventor of the fast break.

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. 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 8 conference championships and had only one losing season. 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).