RIP Joey Meyer

[DanOregon]

I don't know if this makes me feel old or not - took over for his old man Ray Meyer and oversaw the decline of DePaul Blue Demon basketball, made his way to the G-League and became the all-time winningest coach of that league.
Ex-DePaul player, coach Joey Meyer dies at 74

 

[Octave]

It makes me feel old that I checked because I thought it was an old first baseman named Joey Meyer.

 

[Typist Clerk]

I don't know if this makes me feel old or not - took over for his old man Ray Meyer and oversaw the decline of DePaul Blue Demon basketball, made his way to the G-League and became the all-time winningest coach of that league.
Ex-DePaul player, coach Joey Meyer dies at 74

It makes me feel just old enough. A good man, Joe Meyer.

 

[exmediahack]

My feelings on nepotism and sons who take over teams from their dad's is well-chronicled here. It never works, except for Tony Bennett at Wazzu.

That being said, I'm only learning Joey Meyer won 226 games and 2 titles in the G-League. That means you can really coach.

 

[Twirling Time]

He was a Boomer's Boomer and looked a lot younger. He was in the 1971 NBA Draft, for crying out loud.

I think if he'd paid his dues and coached at Valpo then worked his way up to say, Purdue and maybe later DePaul, he would have later been given his props. RIP.

 

[micropolitan guy]

I read he was 231-158 as a coach there and made seven NCAA tournaments. So while not being very well-versed in DePaul hoops, he must have had some good years, and that's certainly far better than anyone has done since he left. That job has become a coaching graveyard.

 

[Della9250]

I read he was 231-158 as a coach there and made seven NCAA tournaments. So while not being very well-versed in DePaul hoops, he must have had some good years, and that's certainly far better than anyone has done since he left. That job has become a coaching graveyard.

he had six straight 20-win seasons, when that actually meant something, from 86 to 92. DePaul has four 20 wins seasons since, none since 2007. Since 07 they have one winning season.

 

[Shelbyville Manhattan]

His Blue Demons went 5-1 against the Marquette teams led by "Piano Bob" Dukiet.

 

[dixiehack]

DePaul is one of the great "What if" mysteries to me. They could have easily been to Chicago what Villanova has become to Philly. I guess the alumni weren't happy as he never quite reached the peak of excellence that daddy Ray set.

But I think those diminishing returns had a couple of causes. They were slow to join a conference (Great Midwest in 1991) and being an independent was no longer an advantage once the NCAAs opened up to multiple bids for leagues. And playing on WGN went from a perk to an albatross as ESPN came to dominate the national discourse.

 

[I Should Coco]

DePaul is one of the great "What if" mysteries to me. They could have easily been to Chicago what Villanova has become to Philly. I guess the alumni weren't happy as he never quite reached the peak of excellence that daddy Ray set.

But I think those diminishing returns had a couple of causes. They were slow to join a conference (Great Midwest in 1991) and being an independent was no longer an advantage once the NCAAs opened up to multiple bids for leagues. And playing on WGN went from a perk to an albatross as ESPN came to dominate the national discourse.

They also had the issue of playing home games at the Rosemont Horizon, an arena located miles away from campus amid the traffic nightmare of O'Hare Airport. Once the team fell back to Earth from its late 1970s to mid-1980s peak, the Blue Demon games were played before a few thousand fans that filled 20% of the arena.

 

[justgladtobehere]

What's DePaul's status in Chicago? Do locals embrace it? Is there some DePaul network in Chicago politics/business?