Dean Peter "The Dream" Meminger (May 13, 1948 – August 23, 2013) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player and coach.

Early life

Meminger was born in

Walterboro, South Carolina Walterboro is a city in Colleton County, South Carolina, United States. The city's population was 5,398 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Colleton County. Walterboro is located west of Charleston and is located near the ACE Basin reg ...

, and came to

Harlem, New York Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harle ...

, with his family as a seventh-grader. He starred at Rice High School in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

as well as making a name for himself on the playgrounds at West 135th Street.

College career

Meminger attended

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...

, where he played for coach

Al McGuire Alfred James McGuire (September 7, 1928 – January 26, 2001) was an American college basketball coach and broadcaster, the head coach at Marquette University from 1964 to 1977. He won a national championship in his final season at Marquette, an ...

with the then-

Warriors A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have been ...

. He helped Marquette win the 1970

National Invitational Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...

. Marquette's 1970 team was ranked 8th in the country and was invited to the NCAA tournament. Following a dispute whether to play in the Mid-East or Mid-West Regional, Marquette declined the bid and opted to play in the NIT, where the team outclassed the field. The NCAA was so incensed by Marquette, it instituted a rule that forced an

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...

team to accept an NCAA bid over an NIT bid. A subsequent

antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

case brought by the NIT against the NCAA over this issue was later settled out of court. Meminger was also the MVP of the 1970 National Invitation Tournament, in which Marquette beat

Pete Maravich Peter Press Maravich ( ; June 22, 1947 – January 5, 1988), known by his nickname Pistol Pete, was an American professional basketball player. Maravich was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, and raised i ...

and

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

101–79 in the semi-finals before defeating St. John's 65–53 in the title game. During his varsity career, he never lost a home game.

NBA career

Meminger was drafted in the first round (16th overall) of the 1971 NBA Draft by the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associa ...

, with whom he played from 1971 to 1974 and 1976-1977. As a rookie reserve guard in 1971–72, Meminger averaged 4.6 points in 15 minutes per game, followed by 5.7 points in 18 minutes per game in 1972–73. In that season, Meminger helped the Knicks win their second-ever NBA championship. Playing on a team which featured star guards

Walt Frazier Walter "Clyde" Frazier Jr. (born March 29, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As their floor general and top perimeter defender, he led the New York Knicks to the franchise's o ...

Earl Monroe Vernon Earl Monroe (born November 21, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player. He played for two teams, the Baltimore Bullets and the New York Knicks, during his career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Both teams ...

and

Dick Barnett Richard Barnett (born October 2, 1936) is an American former basketball player who was a shooting guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Syracuse Nationals, Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks. He won two NBA champions ...

, in Game 7 of the 1973 Eastern Conference finals he replaced Monroe in the second quarter, frustrated the hot-shooting

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of ...

guard

Jo Jo White Joseph Henry White (November 16, 1946 – January 16, 2018) was an American professional basketball player. As an amateur, he played basketball at the University of Kansas, where he was named a second-team All-American twice. White was part o ...

and scored 13 points. After knocking the Celtics out of the playoffs, the Knicks beat the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

Lakers for the title. In the postseason, Meminger played in all 17 games for the Knicks, making 31 of 56 field goal attempts for a percentage. In Meminger's third season of 1973–74, his playing time increased to 26.7 minutes per game as he averaged 8.3 points and 3.6 rebounds per game (both career highs) and 2.1 assists. In 1974–75, Meminger played for the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

, averaging career highs of 27.2 minutes, 5.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game in addition to 7.9 points per game. In 1975–76 with the Hawks, his fifth NBA season, in just over 20 minutes per game he averaged 6.0 points and 3.3 assists per game. The 1976–77 season was his sixth and final NBA season as he returned to the Knicks and averaged 7.9 minutes per game.

Coaching career

Meminger was head coach of the New York Stars in the

Women's Professional Basketball League The Women's Professional Basketball League (abbreviated WBL) was a professional women's basketball league in the United States. The league played three seasons from the fall of 1978 to the spring of 1981. The league was the first professional w ...

(abbreviated WBL), which played three seasons from the fall of 1978 to the spring of 1981. Meminger, with rookie trainer Rick Capistran at his side, guided the Stars to the league championship during the 1979–80 season and was named the league's coach of the year. The team's great success, however, was not enough to save the Stars, which lost so much money the team folded without being able to repeat as champions. Meminger was coaxed to head west, leaving Capistran behind, when he signed up to coach the San Francisco Pioneers in what would be the league's final season. Among the players Meminger coached to a championship were twins Faye and Kaye Young, fresh out of

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universi ...

. Kaye was married to former

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Stee ...

head coach

Bill Cowher William Laird Cowher (born May 8, 1957) is an American sports analyst, former football player and coach. Following a six-year playing career as a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL), he served as a head coach in the NFL for 15 se ...

. Kaye Cowher died of

skin cancer Skin cancers are cancers that arise from the skin. They are due to the development of abnormal cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. There are three main types of skin cancers: basal-cell skin cancer (BC ...

at age 54 on July 23, 2010. In 1982 Meminger was hired to coach the

Albany Patroons The Albany Patroons are a professional basketball team that plays in The Basketball League (TBL). Previously, the team competed in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and in the United States Basketball League (USBL). The Patroons won ...

in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

. He was dismissed for his combative style with his players and replaced by his former Knicks teammate and friend

Phil Jackson Philip Douglas Jackson (born September 17, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive. A power forward, Jackson played 12 seasons in the NBA, winning NBA championships with the New York Knicks in 1970 and ...

. Meminger convinced Jackson to let him try out for the team but he was unable to resurrect his career on the court. Meminger coached the

USBL The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

's Long Island Knights in 1987, and in later years, spent some time coaching at

Manhattanville College Manhattanville College is a private university in Purchase, New York. Founded in 1841 at 412 Houston Street in lower Manhattan, it was initially known as Academy of the Sacred Heart, then after 1847 as Manhattanville College of the Sacred Hea ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Personal life

Meminger's son goes by the same name and is a news reporter and anchor for

NY1 News NY1 (also officially known as Spectrum News NY1 and spoken as New York One) is an American cable news television channel founded by Time Warner Cable, which itself is owned by Charter Communications through its acquisition in May 2016. The channe ...

. On November 22, 2009, Meminger was rescued from a fire in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

in New York City. Suffering from smoke inhalation, he was admitted to the burn unit of

Jacobi Medical Center Jacobi Medical Center (NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi) is a municipal hospital operated by NYC Health + Hospitals in affiliation with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The facility is located in the Morris Park neighborhood of the Bronx, ...

. Meminger recovered and would remain active in local basketball events. He and trainer Rick Capistran reconnected after 30 years when Capistran tracked his old coach down after reading about Meminger's brush with death in the fire. Meminger had battled drug addiction for decades and was living in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. He was in Harlem to receive a community award when he was found dead in his room at the Casablanca Hotel in Harlem on August 23, 2013.

References

External links

*
NBA statistics
@ basketballreference.com
Mad Season: The Story of the First Women's Professional Basketball League, 1978-1981 by Karra Porter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meminger, Dean 1948 births 2013 deaths African-American basketball players African-American basketball coaches All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players Basketball coaches from South Carolina Basketball players from South Carolina Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) Continental Basketball Association coaches Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball players New Orleans Jazz expansion draft picks New York Knicks draft picks New York Knicks players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Walterboro, South Carolina Point guards United States Basketball League coaches 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people Women's Professional Basketball League coaches