On the last Thursday of April, all roads in Aberdeen, S.D., lead to the house of Northern State men’s basketball coach Don Meyer.
The last Thursday in April is Aberdeen’s annual Wolfdog Festival. The Meyer residence is the focal point, because the day’s activities benefit the university’s basketball program.
The feature of the day is what Meyer describes as big, long wolfdogs (hot dogs) that sell for $2.50. Meyer operates a large grill set up in his backyard that he borrows from a local grocery store and is capable of dishing out all the wolfdogs fans can eat.
“We’ll grill enough to serve about 400 people,” Meyer said. “Our basketball program is really important to our town. Everybody thinks they have part ownership in our basketball team, and that’s what makes it fun.”
Meyer talked about the Wolfdog Festival recently as he watched the University of Northern Colorado basketball team practice. He was away from his Northern State University team in order to be inducted into Northern Colorado’s Hall of Fame Class of 2009, along with his teammates on the 1965-66 Bears basketball team.
But there was another part of Meyer’s story that puts special meaning into this year’s Wolfdog Festival. Last Sept. 5, Meyer was involved in an auto-truck accident, resulting in the loss of the lower part of his left leg and him being diagnosed with carcinoid, a slow progressing form of liver and colon cancer.
“We were on our way to a team retreat that we go to every year,” Meyer said. “I was leading the procession in a car by myself and remember looking for the turnoff. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I remember was this white cloud in front of me that was the air bag.”
Meyer’s car veered in front of a semi-trailer truck loaded with grain.
“My players who were following in cars kept me awake and alive until a helicopter arrived and I was taken to a hospital,” Meyer continued. “I had six surgeries that night and by the end of the week, I was told I had cancer. It may be in the advanced stages, but we’re not sure.”
Doctors tried for two months to save his damaged leg to no avail. Now he has to wait for a wound on the front part of his leg to heal before being fitted with a prosthesis.
Meyer was away from his basketball team for two months but returned to his place on the sideline for most of this season. He coaches mostly from a wheelchair but is able to stand for a time with the aid of a walker.
“It was a miracle that I came out of it without being all busted up,” Meyer said. “I probably came back too early, but I needed to coach. Coaching takes your mind off of other things. You have to be dedicated, but there’s no other way to do it if you want to be successful.”
Meyer’s way has been productive. His coaching resume includes assistant coaching jobs at Western State College in Gunnison and the University of Utah. His head coaching assignments have been Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn.; Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn.; and the last 10 years at Northern State, a Division II powerhouse. His 1990 team at Lipscomb won 41 games, the most by a college team.
Last week, Meyer claimed his 910th victory in 37 years as a head coach, making him the all-time leader in NCAA men’s basketball victories.
The Wolves are 19-10 this season and have advanced to this year’s NCAA Central Region tournament, where they are the No. 8 seed.
Meyer came to then-Colorado State College in 1963 primarily to play baseball. He stayed with basketball and started in his junior and senior years.
“I was fortunate to have great coaches in George Sage and Jerry Krause in basketball and Pete Butler in baseball,” Meyer said.
Meyer’s coaching advice? Start by coaching great defense.
“I’ve had some great offensive players who thought they could score their way out of trouble,” Meyer said. “That’s not the right approach. It’s sort of like trying to spend your way out of a recession.”
He made assurances he was talking basketball, not politics.
Meyer bio
Born: Dec. 16, 1944, in Wayne, Neb.
High school: Wayne
College: Colorado State College (now Northern Colorado)
Family: Wife Carmen; son Jerry; daughters Brooke and Brittney
Hobbies: Reading, watching TV
On the horizon: A log house, a wood stove and a small dog to sit in his lap.
