Ray Meyer

Ray Meyer (1913-2006)

Teams coached: DePaul Blue Demons
DePaul record: 724-354 (.672)
Overall record: 724-354 (.672)

Career Accomplishments:

  • NCAA National Championships:  0
  • NCAA Tournament Appearances:  13  (1943, 1953, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1965, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984)
  • NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: (1953, 1959, 1960, 1965, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1984)
  • NCAA Tournament Final Four: (1943, 1979)
  • NIT Championships:  1  (1945)
  • NIT Appearances:  8  (1944, 1945, 1948, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1983)

Awards:

Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):

1942-1984 DePaul
1938-1942 Notre Dame (asst)

Ray Meyer Facts

  • Raymond Joseph “Ray” Meyer
  • Born December 18, 1913
  • Died March 17, 2006
  • Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
  • Alma Mater: University of Notre Dame (BA, 1938)
  • Played at Notre Dame under head coach George Keogan, and later became a scout/assistant to Koegan at his alma mater
  • Became the head coach at DePaul in 1942, immediately recruiting big man George Mikan to join the Blue Demons
    • Mikan would go on to have a Hall of Fame playing career and is considered one of pioneers of professional basketball
  • Behind Mikan, Meyer’s first three DePaul teams would have great success, including an NCAA Final Four, NIT Runner-Up and NIT Championship in 1945 (at a time where NIT was considered the more prestigious postseason tournament)
  • Meyer was DePaul head coach for 42 seasons, leading the Blue Demons to 21 postseason appearances (including 13 NCAA Tournaments) and 724 wins
    • For Meyer’s entire tenure, DePaul was an independent Division I program with no conference affiliation
  • Won 7 major Coach of the Year awards, was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame while still coaching in 1979 and then in the inaugural 2006 class of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame
  • Following his retirement, Meyer became a broadcaster for WGN and called all DePaul games from 1984 until his son’s firing as head coach in 1997
  • Ran a basketball camp for boys in Three Lakes, Wisconsin for 43 years until his declining health forced him to close in 2001
  • In 1999, DePaul named the Ray Meyer Fitness and Recreation Center on the Lincoln Park campus in his honor
  • Along with his late wife, Margaret, had six children including a son, Joey Meyer, who succeeded him as DePaul head coach

Ray Meyer Coaching Tree

  • Tyrone Corbin (Sacramento Kings, Utah Jazz)
  • Mike Gillespie (Florida A&M, Tallahassee CC, Saint Leo)
  • Joey Meyer (Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Tulsa 66ers, Asheville Altitude, DePaul)
  • George Mikan (Minnesota Lakers)
  • Jim Molinari (Western Illinois, Minnesota, Bradley, Northern Illinois)