Our Venue Namesakes: Keen, Canham
9/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | General
Sept. 30, 2015
This four-part series focuses on the men and women who helped shape the Stephen M. Ross Athletic Campus. The second part focuses on Cliff Keen and Don Canham.
CLIFF KEEN ARENA -- CLIFF KEEN (Wrestling, 1926-42, 1946-70)
Cliff Keen's 42 years at the University of Michigan stands as the longest tenure by a collegiate wrestling coach, and acts as one of the longest careers by any coach in the history of the NCAA. Keen's success as Michigan's wrestling coach includes a 272-91-10 record, 12 Big Ten Conference championships, 11 NCAA individual champions, 68 All-Americans and 81 Big Ten champions. Keen's teams finished in the top three in the Big Ten in all but five seasons during his run as head coach.
Astonishingly, Keen left his stamp on more than just the wrestling program. He also served as a member of the Michigan football staff for 33 years, serving as an assistant for Fielding Yost, Fritz Crisler and Bennie Oosterbaan.
As a collegiate athlete at Oklahoma A&M, Keen was an undefeated 158-pound wrestler, winning two Southwestern Conference titles, a Missouri Valley Conference title and a National Invitational Tournament championship. He also was a three-sport letterman, serving as the football team's center for two seasons (1922-23) and competing in the hurdles and shot put in the spring. In 1924, the same year Keen graduated college, he was selected to the U.S. Olympic wrestling team after winning the Olympic trials, but was sidelined from competing after suffering a broken rib in training camp.
After serving as the athletic director and coaching football, wrestling and boxing at Oklahoma's Frederick High School for two years, Keen arrived at the University of Michigan and transformed a wrestling program that finished 0-7 in the previous season into the Big Ten runner-up.
Aside from his role within Michigan Athletics, Keen received a law degree from the University in 1933, and likely would have transitioned away from coaching to practice law if not for being drafted into the U.S. Navy. He spent three years as a Naval Commander during World War II, leading the preflight conditioning program and developing the naval wrestling program. After returning from the Navy, Keen rejoined the Michigan wrestling program.
Cliff Keen played a pivotal role in developing the sport across the United States, and in 1958, founded Cliff Keen Athletic to sell and promote wrestling headgear. He was the inaugural president of the National Wrestling Coaches Association and was a charter member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
The Cliff Keen Arena, which hosts Michigan wrestling, gymnastics and volleyball matches, was renamed in honor of the tenured coach in 1990.
Cliff Keen Arena (left) and Canham Natatorium (right)
CANHAM NATATORIUM -- DON CANHAM (Track & Field, 1949-68; Athletics, 1968-88)
There are few people as influential at the University of Michigan as Don Canham. Before becoming the Michigan athletic director for 20 years from 1968-1988, Canham was a member of the Wolverines' men's track and field team, earning All-America honors in 1940 -- winning the NCAA title in the high jump. He additionally won both the indoor and outdoor Big Ten Conference championship in 1940 and 1941.
After his athletic career at the University of Michigan, Canham acted as Michigan's head track coach, leading the team to 12 Big Ten championships. In 1968, Canham left his coaching position to become the University's athletic director.
Canham is responsible for various improvements and developments at the University of Michigan and within the athletic department. Canham became nationally renowned for his ability to market and sell products bearing the name or logo of the University of Michigan. He played a pivotal role in developing the Michigan "brand."
Furthermore, after being selected as the fifth Michigan athletic director, Canham launched the first-ever major direct mail and advertising program to sell football and other sports tickets. Canham's approach to market and promote Michigan generated revenues that made the University the most self-sufficient program in the country.
During Canham's tenure, the athletic department produced 72 Big Ten championships. His knack for recognizing coaching talent is considered by many to be one of the most significant contributions Canham made. Not only did he hire Michigan football legend Bo Schembechler as one of his first moves in 1968, but Canham additionally hired ice hockey coach Red Berenson, softball coach Carol Hutchins, swimming coach Jon Urbanchek and track and field coach Ron Warhurst, among others.
Don Canham was inducted into the Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 1987, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics in 1988 and received the Gerald R. Ford award from the University of Michigan in 2005, the highest honor bestowed to former Michigan student-athletes.
Michigan's swimming and diving and water polo teams compete in the Donald B. Canham Natatorium, which opened in 1988.
• Our Venue Namesakes: Ocker, Oosterbaan
The 2015-16 academic year marks the 150th anniversary of Michigan Athletics. We invite the University of Michigan family to celebrate the passion that fuels us, rediscover the stories and traditions that unite us, and imagine what the future holds for us. We look forward to celebrating "This Michigan of Ours." To share a memory of Michigan Athletics, please fill out our online form or email goblue150@umich.edu.
