Raymond Joseph Meyer (December 18, 1913 – March 17, 2006) was an American men's collegiate basketball coach from

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He was well known for coaching at

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private, Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...

from 1942 to 1984, compiling a 724–354 record. Meyer coached DePaul to 21 post-season appearances (13

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

, eight NIT). In total, Meyer recorded 37 winning seasons and twelve 20-win seasons, including seven straight from 1978 to 1984. Two Meyer-coached teams reached the Final Four (1943 and 1979), and in 1945, Meyer led DePaul past

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

to capture the National Invitation Tournament, the school's only post-season title. Red Rolfe and Ray Meyer

Meyer coached a College All-Star team that played a coast-to-coast series against the Harlem Globetrotters for 11 years. One of his best players was

George Mikan George Lawrence Mikan Jr. (; June 18, 1924 – June 1, 2005), nicknamed "Mr. Basketball", was an American professional basketball player for the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League (NBL) and the Minneapolis Lakers of t ...

, who was a game-changing player and basketball's first great "big man". Meyer recruited Mikan from

Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary was an American seminary preparatory school administered by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago for young men considering the priesthood. Located in downtown Chicago at 103 East Chestnut Street, a ...

, a school Meyer had himself earlier attended. Other top players coached by Meyer include former

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

players

Mark Aguirre Mark Anthony Aguirre (born December 10, 1959) is an American former basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Aguirre was chosen as the first overall pick of the 1981 NBA draft by the Dallas Mavericks after playing thre ...

and

Terry Cummings Robert Terrell "Terry" Cummings (born March 15, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player who played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Cummings was voted Rookie of the Year and was a two-time All-Star, a ...

. During Meyer's tenure the basketball rivalry between DePaul and Loyola reached an extremely high level. Meyer's great-great nephew, Mike Starkman, played basketball for Loyola as a walk-on. Meyer was a much-beloved figure in Chicago, and is a member of 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 pres ...

. He was succeeded as DePaul coach by his son,

Joey Joey may refer to: People *Joey (name) Animals * Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial * Joey, a Blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets Film and television * ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horac ...

, who led the team for several more seasons, but less successfully than had his father. Meyer also ran a summer basketball camp near Three Lakes in northern

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

for many years.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Ray 1913 births 2006 deaths Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Illinois Basketball players from Chicago College men's basketball head coaches in the United States DePaul Blue Demons athletic directors DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball coaches Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball players People from Three Lakes, Wisconsin

Head coaching record

See also

References

External links