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Woodbridge Warrior’s First Hall of Fame Inductee

Former NBA player and Woodbridge High and college basketball star Adam Keefe seemed like the perfect person to be the inaugural Hall of Fame Inductee into the Woodbridge Hall of Fame, school officials said during the Warrior Pride Gala and Golf Tournament.

The No. 31 that Keefe wore for the Warriors’ basketball team was retired after his career at Woodbridge. The induction ceremony by the Woodbridge Athletic Booster Club on Saturday, April 28, at Oak Creek Golf Club in Irvine was another step in honoring the record-setting basketball player.

Utah Jazz forward Adam Keefe (31) rejects a shot by Denver Nuggets forward Raef LaFrentz (45) during the fourth quarter at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 1999. The Nuggets beat the Jazz 97-87.(AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

“This is the most difficult Hall of Fame I’ve ever been inducted into,” Keefe said with a smile. “I was inducted into the Stanford Hall of Fame about 12 years ago. So Coach (Athletic Director Rick) Gibson and Coach (John) Halagan, you don’t know how much this means to me.”

Keefe, a 1988 graduate of Woodbridge, led the Warriors to the school’s first state boys basketball title and the CIF Division 2A title in 1987. He went on to star on the collegiate level at Stanford, where he was second team All-American for two seasons. Keefe earned a degree in political science at Stanford.

In 1992, Keefe was selected as the 10th overall pick by the Atlanta Hawks and wound up playing nine years in the NBA, including seven seasons with the Utah Jazz. He closed out his career with Golden State.

The idea of the induction ceremony was the brainchild of Gibson, according to Halagan, the boys basketball coach. Gibson, Halagan and former girls basketball coach Eric Bangs agreed it was the right time. The athletic program began in 1981.

“We all looked at each other and it was pretty obvious,” Halagan said about who the first inductee would be.

Halagan, speaking for former coach Bill Shannon, recalled that Keefe, now 48, was always loyal to his family, teammates and coaches. Halagan was an assistant coach under Shannon when Woodbridge went 28-5 and won the state title in 1987.

“Bill Shannon took our program from dirt to a state title in six years,” Halagan said. “He had a great player and Adam had a great supporting cast in 1987.

“Adam was always so incredibly coachable. Adam was always about we, never me.”

Gibson, the athletic director, praised Keefe for the impact he had at Woodbridge, the boosters who organized Saturday’s event and the coaches and teachers at Woodbridge for supporting the athletes.

Funds raised at the event will go toward equipment for the athletic teams, he said. A silent auction was also held.

GIbson said plans are being made for it to be an annual event.

“We will be adding a larger group (of inductees) next year as we now have a venue and a vehicle to do the hall of fame,” he said.

Keefe, also a volleyball standout at Woodbridge and Stanford, said teachers, coaches and administrators at Woodbridge helped him along the way and he expressed his appreciation during his talk. Keefe played golf during the day and shared memories before the dinner.

“It was very easy to be good when I was at Woodbridge,” Keefe said. “The support you have and the staff and the teachers was amazing, whether it was our principal (Greg Cops) or our coaching staff.”

Their support continued after he left Woodbridge and he remained friends with many, Keefe said. “Some of the best friends in my life are guys I went to Woodbridge High School with.”

Keefe married U.S. Volleyball team member Kristin Klein; the couple lives in Pacific Palisades with their four children. He had advice for parents and athletes attending the gala.

“I have four kids, two in college and one in high school and another who will be in high school next year,” Keefe told guests. “There are a lot of great things you can get out of high school and college. There are some important things and athletics is part of it; academics is certainly more important, but probably the biggest thing you can get out of your high school and collegiate careers is the sense of community and it’s the relationships that you build that take you down the professional road in life.

“I’ve been working every day very hard for a long time in the finance world (with Morgan Stanley Company) and it is my friendships and the people I grew up with and my sense of community that’s enabled me to have the professional career once I stopped playing basketball that I have,” he said.

“If there is any advice I can give any athlete who is in this crowd is be great at what you do,” he said, “but be the greatest teammate that anyone has ever seen.”