 He was playing basketball one day when a wrestler asked him if he could help as a partner so he could practice his moves; after Keen was whipped by the much smaller man, he decided to go out for the team.He got his start in wrestling as a middleweight at Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University–Stillwater), where he became a three time Missouri Valley Conference Champion.He was undefeated as a collegiate wrestler at 158 lbs., but was defeated by Leon Gorman of Texas at 175 lbs.