Don Meyer
| Sport(s) | Basketball |
|---|---|
| Current position | |
| Record | 221–104 (.680) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
December 16, 1944 Wayne, Nebraska |
| Died | May 18, 2014 (aged 69) Aberdeen, South Dakota |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1968–1970 | Western State (asst.) |
| 1970–1972 | Utah (asst.) |
| 1972–1975 | Hamline |
| 1975–1999 | Lipscomb |
| 1999–2010 | Northern State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 923–324 (.740) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| NAIA national men's basketball championship (1986) | |
| Awards | |
| John Bunn Award (2010) | |
Donald Wayne Meyer (December 16, 1944 – May 18, 2014) was an American college basketball coach who completed his career in 2010 as head coach of the men's team at Northern State University. He was once head coach at Hamline University and Lipscomb University. Meyer was born in 1944 in Wayne, Nebraska.
Meyer held the record for most wins by a men's basketball coach whose career included at least one spell with an NCAA member school, until it was surpassed by Duke University coach Mike Krzyzewski 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, who played for Meyer as a point guard (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, 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 cites Meyer as a major influence on her development as a coach, noting in a 2009 interview:
He had 3 major rules:
1. Everybody takes notes.
2. Everybody says "please" and "thank you".
3. Everybody picks up trash.
Don Meyer had cancer 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.
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.
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