For eight years, Keith Richard has been a staple of success at the helm of the Louisiana Tech Bulldog Basketball program.

Last season proved to be no different as Richard took 10 newcomers and made them into the 18th 20-win, 13th postseason and sixth NIT team in Tech history.

Not to mention, he also coached Paul Millsap who, after winning an unprecedented third straight national rebounding title, elected to forego his senior season for 2006-07 and was drafted in the second round of the NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz.

In his tenure, Richard has guided the Bulldogs to a record of 140-97 and is ranked third in all-time career coaching wins behind only Cecil Crowley and Scott Robertson.  He also is fifth in Tech all-time winning percentage at .591.  Since joining the Western Athletic Conference, Richard's teams have finished 51-38 in conference play.  Richard also only needs 21 more wins to surpass Robertson for Tech's second all-time career coaching winner.

As head coach at Louisiana Tech, Richard has won 10-plus conference games for a school record four consecutive seasons and has placed at least one player on the all-conference team each of the last eight seasons.  He's also coached two conference Freshmen of the Year, one Newcomer of the Year and one Player of the Year.

Last season, the Bulldogs went 11-5 in conference play and 20-13 overall as Millsap captured his third NCAA rebounding title with 13.4 boards per game and was named a First Team All-WAC, First Team All-Louisiana and NABC All-District 8 selection.  Millsap is the second individual national champion Richard has guided as Lonnie Cooper won the NCAA free throw championship in 1999.  The Bulldogs finished the season second in the conference and came away with big wins over Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas and Southern Illinois in Carbondale, Ill. for the ESPN BracketBuster.  Tech also completed sweeps of conference powerhouses Fresno State and Hawai'i as well as Boise State, Idaho and San Jose State.

In the 2001-02 season, Richard guided the Bulldogs into their first season in the WAC and came just two last-minute three-pointers away from claiming the league title.  The Bulldogs finished in third place, one game behind co-champions Tulsa and Hawai'i, and set a school record with 14 conference victories.

That season's success was continued as the Bulldogs were invited to the NIT, marking LA Tech's first postseason bid in 10 years.  Richard led Tech to dominating postseason wins over Louisiana-Lafayette and Vanderbilt before the Bulldogs fell 67-64 on the road against Villanova in the NIT's Sweet 16.

Prior to Tech's entry into the WAC, Richard coached the Bulldogs for three seasons in the Sun Belt Conference.  During that time, Richard led his team to a conference championship and earned Sun Belt and Louisiana Sports Writers Association Coach of the Year honors while notching a 20-win season.  Richard left the SBC with the sixth best all-time winning percentage in league history.

Richard first joined the Louisiana Tech staff as an assistant coach in 1994 when he began helping rebuild the Bulldog program.  During his four seasons as an assistant, he helped put the program back on a solid foundation as the Bulldogs became competitive once again.

Accolades have come quickly for Richard as head coach, but the Baton Rouge, La. native is hardly an overnight success.  Richard has spent most of his life centered around the sport and has achieved success at every level.  Prior to coming to Louisiana Tech, he spent five years as an assistant coach at ULM where he helped guide the Indians to four Southland Conference championships.

Richard also spent three seasons at Marshall, serving the first season as a volunteer assistant coach followed by two seasons as an assistant coach.  Before heading to Marshall, Richard spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, ULM.

He picked up two diplomas at ULM, receiving his bachelor's degree in general business in 1982 and his master's in guidance and counseling in 1986.  Richard played basketball for ULM from 1978-82, starting as a junior and senior and helping lead the Indians to its first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 1982.

Richard attended Redemptorist High School where he was a three-year starter and earned First Team All-State honors as a junior and senior.  During his sophomore season, Redemptorist reached the semifinals of the state tournament before winning back-to-back state titles his junior and senior years.  The Wolves went 102-12 from 1975-78 with Richard playing point guard.

In April of 2004, Richard was inducted into the Redemptorist High School Hall of Fame.  Richard and his wife Holly are the parents of two sons, Luke and Lance, and one daughter, Lexie.