Damian Keogh

Damian Thomas Keogh (born 1 February 1962, Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian former professional basketball player who played his career in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL) for the Nunawading Spectres, Bankstown Bruins, West Sydney Westars and Sydney Kings from 1980–1995. He also represented the Australian team at the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympic Games.

Keogh became the Chief Executive Officer of Val Morgan in 2011 and chairman of Sydney based National Rugby League(NRL) team the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in 2013.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

On 10 October 2013, Keogh was named in the Sydney Kings 25th Anniversary Team.^[7]

Early life

Damian was born in Melbourne, Victoria and played soccer, basketball and Aussie Rules^[8]

Basketball career

Damian Keogh, a 6'4" (194 cm) Shooting guard or Small forward, is regarded as one of Australia's greatest basketballers. His long career spanned 16 years and included representing Australia at three Olympic Games (1984, 1988, 1992). Playing 207 games for Australia between 1981 and 1994, Damian also competed at three world championships (1982, 1990, 1994).

To complement his international basketball career, Damian played 406 games in the NBL and although he was unable to win a championship, he did appear in the NBL Grand Final for Nunawading in 1981 and appeared in the NBL playoffs on 8 other occasions.

As an elite athlete, Damian has represented Australia at the highest level, and has since made a successful transition into the corporate world.

Post-basketball life

Following his retirement from basketball, Damian became involved in the Sydney Olympic Games bid team and then as a marketing consultant to SOCOG. He was recruited by the Seven Network, as the Head of Olympic Marketing in 1997, taking responsibility for the national marketing and promotion associated with the 1998 Winter Olympic Games and the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. In 2000, he was promoted to General Manager of Sports Marketing for the Seven Network, overseeing the marketing of the network’s entire sports portfolio. Damian joined the Multi-Channel Network in 2003 as the Sales & Marketing Director and in 2011 he was appointed as the CEO of Val Morgan Cinema Network, Australia and New Zealand’s leading national suppler of screen advertising. In 2014 Damian replaced Delfin Fernandez as CEO of Hoyts Group, which operates 43 cinemas across Australia and New Zealand as well as the Hoyts Kiosk DVD distribution chain and also owns Val Morgan. Since retirement from basketball Damian has continued to help drive the sport of basketball to new places. He currently sits on the board of Basketball NSW and Basketball Australia. His work has been acknowledged with inclusion into the NBL Hall of Fame and the NSW Sports Hall of Champions.

Personal life

Keogh married former Australian Opals player, Maree White in 1986. The couple have four children together; Maddison, Samuel, Isabella and Jed.

Honour roll

NBL career stats

References