BILLINGS — Steve Keller wasn't retired for long.
Keller, who recently stepped down as the University of Providence men's basketball coach, will be joining the Rocky Mountain College men's basketball program as an assistant to head coach Bill Dreikosen.
The Rocky athletics department announced in a press release on Thursday morning that Keller, a member of the Rocky Mountain College athletics hall of fame, would join Dreikosen's staff an assistant coach for the 2023-24 season.
"I am excited to have Steve Keller joining our men's basketball staff here at Rocky,” Battlin' Bears coach Bill Dreikosen said in a RMC press release. “His coaching experience, strong recruiting ties, along with his proven success record are going to be a great asset to our program. Steve and I had our first interactions in the 1980s up on the Hi-Line when I was drawn to the success of his teams at Opheim High School, and we have also had some great battles in the Frontier Conference. I believe the timing for both of us working together is going to produce another successful era of winning basketball here at Rocky Mountain College."
Keller, a graduate of Rocky, joins the Battlin’ Bears after many years of coaching in Montana, including 15 seasons as a head coach in the Frontier Conference for Montana Western and most recently Providence. He has been named Frontier Conference Coach of the Year five times. Keller’s Argos were the Frontier Conference runner-ups in the 2022-23 season.
Before all of his accomplishments in the Frontier Conference, Keller had already put together a successful career at the high school level. He began as the head girls basketball coach at Opheim High School, and then coached at Helena High School. He coached six different state championship teams between the two schools, finishing with a 610-180 overall record as a high school coach. Keller was named MCA Coach of the Year six times and was inducted into the Montana Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2005.
Keller, a 1974 graduate of Custer High School, returns to the Battlin’ Bears nearly 45 years after he graduated from Rocky in 1978. He played baseball for another Rocky hall of famer, C.R. Stiffler, from 1975-1978 while earning his degree in history. Keller was inducted into the Rocky Mountain College Clara Klindt Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017.
Keller holds a perfect record as Montana's boys coach in the Midland Roundtable Montana-Wyoming All-Star Basketball Series, where he is 20-0 since 2012.
Keller's son, Wes, is the head coach for the Rocky women's basketball team. Wes Keller is also the head coach of the Montana girls basketball all-star team that will play Wyoming June 9 at Gillette (Wyoming) College and June 10 at Lockwood High School.
Keller was recently the keynote speaker at the Midland Roundtable Athlete of the Year Banquet at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center.
Keller said part of of the reason why he was returning to coaching was he missed being around the game.
“After sitting in retirement for the last three months, I discovered how much I missed coaching basketball,” Keller said in the press release. “Coach Dreikosen reached out to gauge my interest in being his assistant. I had a great experience as an assistant to Coach (Gary) Turcott for three years at Carroll, and after talking to my wife, we decided to give it a shot. Coach Dreikosen is well respected in our league and has a national championship under his belt. I look forward to working with him and our current roster at Rocky.”
The Battlin’ Bears finished 15-14 last season and won their first Frontier Conference tournament game since the 2017-18 season.
