Debbie Purvis Keel was a volleyball and basketball standout at Barton College, and since her tenure here, has been one of the most successful middle school coaches in the state in those two sports.
Born December 3, 1952, in Greenville, Keel was raised by Walter and Marjorie Purvis in Bethel. She was a four-year starter in basketball at North Pitt High School in Bethel, where she was part of the school’s first class of students.
Keel was All-Conference her sophomore through senior seasons, All-Area and All-East as a junior and senior and team captain as a senior in 1970-71, when North Pitt went 26-0, winning the county, conference and district championships. She averaged 13 points per game her final season, earning a chance to attend Barton.
Under the direction of Carole McKeel, Keel played basketball and volleyball from 1971-75 at Barton and was twice named the school’s Kiwanis Female Athlete of the Year (’73-’74 and ’74-’75). She captained both teams her junior and senior seasons. As a senior, she averaged 16 points, seven rebounds per game in basketball. Keel was a stellar hitter on the volleyball team.
She was a member of the Delta Zeta sorority, president of the Women’s Recreation Association for two years and nominated to the homecoming court. She earned a major in health and physical education and a minor in psychology in 1975, when she made the Dean’s List.
Following graduation, Keel received a coaching/teaching job at A.G. Cox Middle School in Winterville, where she has had great success in the past 24 years. She coached volleyball, girls basketball, softball and track and field for the first 10 years. The next eight years, she coached volleyball and girls basketball while serving as athletics director before just serving as AD and volleyball coach.
Her volleyball teams have compiled an astounding 234-1 record and won 24 straight conference titles. Here basketball teams won 12 conference crowns from 1975-1992 and her softball squads took eight titles from 1975-1985.
She is proud that many of her former players have earned scholarships to a number of North Carolina colleges and universities. In 1994, Keel was named Middle School Coach of the Year by the N.C. Association for Athletic Education. In 1997, she received the Outstanding Young Educator Award by the Winterville Jaycees.
Keel has remained active in her community, where she is a member of the Bethel United Methodist Church and teaches Sunday School. She has coached numerous all-star teams and has conducted volleyball and basketball camps for ages 8 and older.
She married Ted Keel in 1982, and they have two children in Ashley and Hunter. Here two sisters, Kathy Purvis Frazier of Ayden and Tammy Purvis Proctor of Wilson, also attended Barton and played basketball and/or volleyball.
