Don Meyer - Inducted 2013
Northern State’s coach for 11 seasons, Meyer retired in 2010 as the winningest men’s basketball coach in NCAA history, breaking a record set by Bobby Knight.
In a 38-year career, the Wayne, Neb., native and Northern Colorado grad won 923 games and lost 324. And in all that time only one player who completed his eligibility did not graduate.
At NSU, his Wolves were 221-104 with two conference titles and five postseason berths. They won 20 or more games for seven years in a row. The Wolves led NCAA Division II in attendance four times, setting a school record of 71,024 for 15 games in the 2008-09 season.
Meyer also coached three years at Hamline University in St. Paul (1972-75) and 24 years at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn. (1975-1999). At Lipscomb, his Bisons went 665-179 and played in the NAIA national tourney 13 times, winning the title in 1986.
Early in his coaching career, he attended Knight’s Coaching Academy. Meyer began running camps in 1976 and started his Coaching Academy in 1990. His camps and clinics became some of the most popular in the country. Some of the biggest names in the coaching profession – John Wooden, Tubby Smith, Rick Majerus, Pat Summitt, Bill Self, Dick Bennett, Jerry Sloan – have been clinicians at these camps and clinics. Meyer has produced more than 30 instructional videos that are used by pro, college and high school coaches.
Meyer had cancer discovered in his liver and intestines during emergency surgery after a car crash on Sept. 5, 2008, in which he lost one of his legs.
Meyer has received many national awards, including the Jimmy V. Award for Perseverance at the 2009 ESPY Awards, the John Wooden Award at the 2010 Final Four, the John Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2010 Basketball Hall of Fame and the 2012 James Naismith Outstanding Contribution to Men’s Basketball Award. He is the subject of a book “How Lucky You Can Be” written by ESPN’s Buster Olney. Summitt, the winningest NCAA women’s coach, has cited Meyer as a major influence on her development as a coach.
At Northern Colorado, Meyer was an NABC All-American in basketball and finished his baseball career with a 22-2 pitching record.
