Donald Wayne Meyer (December 16, 1944 – May 18, 2014) was an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach who completed his career in 2010 as

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the men's team at

Northern State University Northern State University (NSU) is a public university in Aberdeen, South Dakota, United States. NSU is governed by the South Dakota Board of Regents and offers 45 bachelor's degrees, 53 minors, six associate degrees, 16 pre-professional prog ...

. He was once head coach at

Hamline University Hamline University ( ) is a private university in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1854, Hamline is the oldest university in Minnesota, the first coeducational university in the state, and is one of five Associated Colleges of th ...

and

Lipscomb University Lipscomb University is a Private university, private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. It is affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The campus is located in the Green Hills, Nashville, Tennessee, Green Hills neighborho ...

Early life

Meyer was born in 1944 in

Wayne, Nebraska Wayne is a city in Wayne County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 5,660 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Wayne County and the home of Wayne State College. History Wayne was founded in 1881 when the Chicago, St. Paul, M ...

. Meyer graduated with a major in physical education from the

University of Northern Colorado The University of Northern Colorado (UNCO or UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado, United States. It was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has offi ...

and excelled in baseball and basketball, being named an NCAA All-American in 1966 while playing in the

1966 NCAA College Division basketball tournament The 1966 NCAA College Division basketball tournament involved 36 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA College Division basketball as a culmination of the 1965–66 NCAA C ...

. He graduated in 1967.

College basketball coaching career

Meyer held the record for most wins by a men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach whose career included at least one stint with an NCAA member school, until it was surpassed by Duke University coach

Mike Krzyzewski Michael William Krzyzewski ( , ; born February 13, 1947), nicknamed "Coach K", is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at Duke University from 1980–81 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team, 1980 to 2021� ...

in November 2011. His career win total includes stints as a NAIA coach. He is the subject of the book, ''Playing for Coach Meyer'' written by

Steve Smiley Stephen Christopher Smiley (born April 1, 1981) is an Americans, American basketball coach (basketball), coach who is the current head coach of the Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team. Playing career Smiley was a two-time all-state sel ...

, who played for Meyer as a

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

(1999–2004), and who served as an assistant coach from 2006 to 2008. Meyer is also the subject of a more extensive biography, ''How Lucky You Can Be: The Story of Coach Don Meyer'', written by ESPN baseball analyst

Buster Olney Robert Stanbury "Buster" Olney III (born ) is an American sports journalist for ESPN, ''ESPN: The Magazine'', and ESPN.com. He previously covered the New York Giants and New York Yankees for ''The New York Times''. He is also a regular anal ...

, who has had a close relationship with Meyer since Olney was assigned to cover baseball in Nashville while Meyer was coaching at Lipscomb.

Pat Summitt Patricia Susan Summitt (; June 14, 1952 – June 28, 2016) was an American women's college basketball head coach and college basketball player. As a coach, she acquired 1,098 career wins, the most in college basketball history at the time ...

cites Meyer as a major influence on her development as a coach, noting in a 2009 interview: He had 3 major rules: #Everybody takes notes. #Everybody says "please" and "thank you". #Everybody picks up trash.

Accident and cancer

Meyer had cancer that was discovered in his liver and intestines (bowels) during emergency surgery after a car crash on September 5, 2008. His lower left leg had to be amputated below the knee due to injuries from the car crash. During the surgery they found cancer and later operated on it.

Awards

At the ESPY Awards 2009, Meyer was awarded the Jimmy V (Jim Valvano) Award For Perseverance. In February 2011, Coach Meyer was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame not only for his basketball coaching skills and records but was also recognized as an outstanding collegiate basketball and baseball athlete and administrator. In 2012, Meyer was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame.

Retirement and death

On February 22, 2010, Northern State announced that Meyer would be retiring at the end of the 2009–10 season after 38 years of coaching. Later that year, on June 30, the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

announced that Meyer was that year's recipient of the

John Bunn Award The John Bunn Award—in full, the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award—is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and ...

, given by the Hall for significant contributions to the sport. Casey Bond, a Lipscomb alum, produced the

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...

about Meyer called ''My Many Sons'', along with producing partner Brad Wilson. The film was produced on a budget of between $2 million and $5 million under Bond and Wilson's production company, Higher Purpose Entertainment, and was released in 2015, starring

Judge Reinhold Edward Ernest "Judge" Reinhold Jr. (born May 21, 1957) is an American actor who is best known for his work in Hollywood films during the 1980s. He has starred in several popular films such as '' Stripes'' (1981), '' Fast Times at Ridgemont High' ...

as Meyer. The filming took place in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

and

Aberdeen, South Dakota Aberdeen () is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, South Dakota, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 28,495. making it the third-most populous city in the state. Aberdeen is home of Northern State University. ...

. Meyer died of complications from his cancer on May 18, 2014, aged 69, in

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Don 1944 births 2014 deaths American amputees American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Nebraska Basketball players from Nebraska College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Deaths from cancer in South Dakota Hamline Pipers men's basketball coaches Lipscomb Bisons men's basketball coaches Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball players Northern State Wolves men's basketball coaches People from Wayne, Nebraska Utah Utes men's basketball coaches 20th-century American sportsmen