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| Bob McKeen |
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Bob McKeen was a two-time All-American basketball star for the University of California at Berkeley from 1951 to 1955. His career spanned the end of coach Nibs Price's long reign and the beginning of UC Berkeley's golden era under coach Pete Newall. McKeen lettered in 1952, '53, '54 and '55. He earned All-America honors in 1955 in addition to All-West Coast and all-conference.
McKeen, who still holds the Golden Bears' record as leading rebounder, was the then-Minneapolis Lakers' first-round draft pick when he graduated. But the Lakers were offering $6,500 a year and a life of constant travel, so he turned down the offer, and instead studied for a master's degree in business administration at UC Berkeley.
He founded his own real estate firm and served on the Oakland City Council from 1960 to 1964, holding the office of vice mayor during his last two years on the council.
McKeen, who often made the society pages during his second marriage to Stephane McKeen, turned down an invitation to the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles in the late 1970s so he could attend a high school basketball game in Brentwood, where his son Bryan was playing for Miramonte High. His first marriage was to Estelle Knowland, the daughter of William F. Knowland, Oakland Tribune newspaper heir and a former U.S. Senator.
[From SFGate obituary and Cal Bears Sports]
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