Randolph Keys (2000) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

Randolph Keys

Induction:
2000

Every basketball team that you have ever seen or been around has that one player that everything seems to revolve around. A leader that in so many different ways is able to carry the team to accomplishments never dreamed of before. Randolph Keys was that kind of player. And during the course of a brilliant four-year career at Southern Miss, became a major part of an explosion of popularity of Southern Miss basketball never seen before.
   Keys came to Southern Miss in the fall of 1984 from Collins, Mississippi, High School, as a lightly recruited, skinny 6-9 center. There was something unique about Keys through, that attracted the attention of Coach M.K. Turk and his coaching staff. Loaded with talent and potential, Keys proved right immediately that he was a tireless worker, that loved the game of basketball and would do whatever it took to become the best.
    As a freshman Keys didn’t see a great deal of action early on, but by mid-season he was in the starting lineup and teamed with Casey Fisher, John White and Derrek Hamilton would begin to lay down the foundation for some of the school’s greatest teams.
   Although he averaged just 4.6 points and 2.5 rebounds his rookie season anyone that watched the Golden Eagles play during that 1984-85 saw glimpse of that silky smooth jump shot that would go on to make him one of the school’s all-time scorers.
   He would begin the 1985-86 season in the starting lineup and remain there for the final 93 games of his career. In 1985-86 he was the 2nd leading scorer on the team with a 14.1 average and 2nd on the squad in rebounding as well averaging 5.7 a game. He also blocked 28 shots will leading the Golden Eagles to a 17-12 record and a berth in the NIT, just the 2nd ever post-season appearance by the school.
   As a junior he averaged 16.4 points and 7.9 rebounds to lead the team in both categories. That team finished the year with an incredible run, winning seven of the last nine games that it played and winning the NIT at Madison Square Garden in New York. Keys was named the NIT’s Most Valuable Player.
   His senior year saw the Golden Eagles run out to a 15-2 start and rank as high as 14th in the Associated Press Poll. That team also wound up playing in the NIT, losing in the 2nd round. Keys averaged a career high 21.3 points that season and pulled down a career high 8.3 rebounds a game.
   Keys currently ranks 6th in career scoring at Southern Miss with 1,626 points and 8th in career rebounding with 723. He also ranks 4th in career field goals made with 694, 1st in field goals attempted with 1,458, and 8th in minutes played with 3,439.
   Following the 1987-88 season he was drafted in the 1st round of the NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, the 22nd player selected overall, at the time the highest a Southern Miss player had ever been selected.
   Randolph spent several season playing in the NBA with Cleveland and Charlotte and several more seasons playing overseas.