MEYER, RAY

born Dec. 18, 1913, Chicago byname of Raymond Joseph Meyer U.S. collegiate basketball coach with the most team victories of active coaches in the early 1980s. Meyer played basketball at St. Patrick's High School (Chicago) and at Notre Dame University (South Bend, Ind.; B.A. 1938), where he was forward (193638) and captain (193738). He then served as an assistant coach at Notre Dame (194042). He was head coach at De Paul University (Chicago) from 1942 until his retirement in 1984. In his career he won 724 games with a .671 winning percentage. Meyer was named coach of the year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches in 1979. He took 20 teams to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and National Invitational Tournament (NIT) championships, and won the NIT championship in 1945. Meyer was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978.