Roy Servais "Spec" Keene (July 1, 1894 – August 24, 1977) was an American American football, baseball, and basketball coach at Willamette University and an athletic director at Oregon State University.

Playing career

Keene graduated from Oregon State University in 1921, where he was a pitcher on the baseball team, and was chosen as team captain in his junior year.

Coaching career

After graduating from Oregon State, Keene signed on with Willamette University's athletic department, where he coached three sports: football for 17 years, baseball for 16 years, and basketball for 11 years. Combined, Keene's teams won or shared 19 Northwest Conference championships, and in the 1929–30 academic year, each of his three teams were undefeated and won conference championships. Keene is considered the "father of Willamette athletics" and was a charter member of the University's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991.

Attack on Pearl Harbor

On December 6, 1941, Keene's Willamette football team was in Honolulu, Hawaii, where they lost a game to Hawaii, 20–6. The following day, the players and fans had intended to do some sightseeing around Hawaii, but instead, were witness to Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. The players, now stranded in Hawaii, were enlisted to string barbed wire on Waikiki Beach and were given rifles and assigned to protect the beach and later the hills above Honolulu. Keene, along with future Oregon governor Douglas McKay, who had traveled with the football team, finally arranged passage home for the players on December 19 on an overloaded luxury liner, the SS President Coolidge. The team arrived in San Francisco on Christmas Day after taking a circuitous route to avoid Japanese submarines. In 1997, the entire team was inducted into Willamette's Athletic Hall of Fame.

Return to Oregon State

Keene as he appeared shortly after he assumed the position of athletic director at Oregon State.

Following World War II, in 1947, Keene returned to Oregon State to serve as athletic director. He served in that post for 26 years, the longest tenure of any Oregon State athletic director. During his term, he oversaw construction of the University's two major sports facilities: Gill Coliseum in 1949 and Parker Stadium (later renamed Reser Stadium) in 1953. Keene was President of the Pacific Coast Conference Athletics Directors Association and served on the executive committee of the NCAA.

Legacy

In 1989, Willamette University built a new baseball stadium, which they named Roy S. "Spec" Keene Stadium. In addition to the Willamette University Athletic Hall of Fame, Keene was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1982 for his coaching, and the Oregon State University Sports Hall of Fame in 1991 for his service as athletic director. He died in Corvallis on August 24, 1977.

Head coaching record

Football

YearTeamOverallConferenceStandingBowl/playoffs
Willamette Bearcats (Northwest Conference) (1926–1942)
1926Willamette2–41–25th
1927Willamette3–3–22–2–13rd
1928Willamette3–52–3T–4th
1929Willamette6–25–01st
1930Willamette5–34–12nd
1931Willamette5–43–2T–2nd
1932Willamette4–4–14–1–12nd
1933Willamette6–34–12nd
1934Willamette8–15–0T–1st
1935Willamette5–24–01st
1936Willamette7–2–16–01st
1937Willamette6–33–01st
1938Willamette5–34–1T–1st
1939Willamette3–4–23–1–12nd
1940Willamette4–54–01st
1941Willamette8–25–01st
1942Willamette4–14–01st
Willamette:84–51–663–14–3
Total:84–51–6
National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth

Basketball

Statistics overview
SeasonTeamOverallConferenceStandingPostseason
Willamette Bearcats (Northwest Conference) (1926–1937)
1926–27Willamette14–610–2T–1st
1927–28Willamette13–77–22nd
1928–29Willamette10–47–1T–1st
1929–30Willamette14–48–01st
1930–31Willamette15–310–11st
1931–32Willamette16–127–33rd
1932–33Willamette18–39–11st
1933–34Willamette9–136–43rd
1934–35Willamette7–174–55th
1935–36Willamette10–163–55th
1936–37Willamette22–610–01st
Willamette Bearcats (Northwest Conference) (1942–1943)
1942–43Willamette11–95–1T–1st
Willamette:159–10086–25
Total:159–100
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

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