NCAA’S Winningest Men's Coach Don Meyer Named 2012 Naismith Outstanding Contributor to Basketball
Today, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced that Don Meyer has won the 2012 Naismith Outstanding Contributor to Men’s Basketball award.
ATLANTA (Oct. 26, 2011) – With a record of 923-324 over his 38-year career, Don Meyer retired from
coaching in February 2010 as the winningest NCAA men’s basketball coach at any division. Today, the
Atlanta Tipoff Club announced that Don Meyer has won the 2012 Naismith Outstanding Contributor to Men’s Basketball award.
Created in 1982, the Naismith Outstanding Contributor to Men’s Basketball Award is presented annually to
individuals whose extraordinary efforts have made contributions of outstanding significance and have
created a long-lasting positive impact on the game of basketball. The recipients display character, integrity
and dignity, and have contributed mightily to the growth, success and viability of basketball. To be eligible,
an individual must have been involved with the sport in a capacity related to coaching, broadcasting, college
administration or the news media.
Selected by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Directors, Meyer will be recognized at the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Men’s College Basketball Preview Luncheon presented by Georgia Best Chevy Dealers Nov.2 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis hotel.
“Even with his unrivaled career record, Don’s contributions to basketball go far beyond wins and losses, it’s
the hundreds of lives he’s touched,” said Eric Oberman, Executive Director of the Atlanta Tipoff Club. ”Simply put, college basketball would not be the same without Don, and we’re thrilled to honor him with this prestigious award.”
The Wayne, Nebraska, native played college basketball at Northern Colorado University before beginning his coaching career in 1968 as an assistant at Western State College of Colorado. His first head coaching
position came in 1972 at Hamline University in Minnesota.
In 1975, Meyer became the head coach of Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn., where he would remain
for 24 years and amass a coaching record of 665-179, leading the Bisons to 13 NAIA tournament
appearances and an NAIA national championship in 1986. Voted the NAIA coach of the year in 1989 and
1990, Meyer was voted into the NAIA Hall of Fame at age 47.
“It is a great honor for me to receive this award,” Meyer said. “This honor makes me thing back fondly on all
of the great team players I have been fortunate to coach, who made our teams each year something
special."
Meyer went on to coach at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota for 11 years before
announcing his retirement last year, but continues to work at Northern State as a Regents Distinguished
Professor and Assistant to the President.
For more information, visit www.naismithawards.com
Past Winners include:
Men's Outstanding Contributor
2011 - Dick Enberg
2010 - John Thompson Jr.
2009 - Billy Packer
2008 - Dick Vitale
2007 - Bob Knight
2006 - Jerry Colangelo
2005 - Everett Case
2004 - George Killian
2003 - Charles “Lefty” Driesell
2002 - Don Haskins
2001 - Tex Winter
2000 - Bill Wall
1999 - C.M. Newton
1998 - Dean Smith
1997 - Phog Allen (in memory)
1996 - Boris Stankovic
1995 - Victor Bubas
1994 - Claire Bee (in memory)
1993 - Dave Gavitt
1992 - John McLendon
1991 - Clarence “Big House” Gaines
1990 - Frank McGuire
1989 - Nat Holman
1988 - Red Auerbach
1987 - Pete Newell
1986 - Adolph Rupp (in memory)
1985 - Hank Iba
1984 - Ray Meyer
1983 - John Wooden
1982 - Curt Gowdy
ABOUT THE ATLANTA TIPOFF CLUB
The Atlanta Tipoff Club, an Atlanta Sports Council property, is committed to promoting the game of
basketball and recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of those who make the game so exciting. The Atlanta Tipoff Club, founded during the 1956-57 season, has presented the Naismith Trophy every year
since UCLA’s Lew Alcindor first won the award in 1969. Old Dominion’s Anne Donovan won the inaugural
Women’s Naismith Trophy in 1983. The Naismith Award is the most prestigious award in all of college and
high school basketball, recognizing the Men’s and Women’s College Basketball Player of the Year, Men’s
and Women’s College Basketball Coach of the Year, as well as awards for outstanding achievement in high
school basketball, officiating, and contribution to the game. 
