Head Coach Bill Dreikosen will add one of Montana’s most decorated coaches and a Rocky Mountain College Athletics Hall of Famer to his staff for the upcoming season, announcing the hiring of Steve Keller to join his staff as an assistant coach for the 2023-24 season.
“I am excited to have Steve Keller joining our men’s basketball staff here at Rocky.” Coach Bill Dreikosen said. “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 1980’s 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 Mountain College, joins the Battlin’ Bears after many years of coaching experience in Montana, including 15 seasons as a head coach in the Frontier Conference for Montana Western and most recently the University of 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 after a successful career at the high school level. He began as the head girls basketball coach at Opheim High School, then coaching at Helena High School, where 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.
Coach Keller returns to the Battlin’ Bears nearly 45 years after he graduated from Rocky Mountain College in 1978. He played baseball for another Rocky Mountain College Athletics 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 coach in the Midland Roundtable Montana-Wyoming All-Star basketball series at 20-0 since 2012.
“After sitting in retirement for the last three months, I discovered how much I missed coaching basketball.” Keller said regarding his decision to return to coaching. “Coach Dreikosen reached out to gauge my interest in being his assistant. I had a great experience as an assistant to Coach 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 their most recent season 15-14 and won their first Frontier Conference tournament game since the 2017-18 season.
