Hoops Notes: DePaul's Meyer dead at age 92

CHICAGO — Ray Meyer, who built DePaul into a national basketball power during a 42-year span, coaching a generation of players stretching from George Mikan to Mark Aguirre, died Friday at age 92.

Meyer twice took the Blue Demons to the NCAA Final Four, helped develop Mikan — who would eventually become basketball's first dominating big man — and coached DePaul to the 1945 NIT title.

Meyer's death was confirmed by athletic director Jean Lenti Ponsetto. The school said his family was with him when he died at an assisted living facility.

"He was a coach's coach; he was a man's man," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who grew up in Chicago. "He was the face of college basketball in Chicago. When you think of basketball in that city, you think of Ray Meyer."

Meyer was an avuncular, stout, ever-smiling presence on the court — one who favored wearing green carnations on St. Patrick's Day.

He had an eye for talent with players like Aguirre, Terry Cummings, Dallas Comegys and Dave Corzine, who parlayed their college experience into pro careers.

But no player he coached had as much of an impact on the game as Mikan, who died in June 2005.

Meyer had just been hired at DePaul in 1942 when he was introduced to a 6-foot-10 student with thick glasses.

"I saw George Mikan," Meyer once recalled, "and I saw my future."

Under Meyer's tutelage, Mikan became a two-time college player of the year. A half-century ago, no one had seen someone that tall with such agility, tenacity and skill.

From the days of two-handed set shots to the slam dunk era, Meyer either coached or broadcast 1,467 consecutive Blue Demons games, a 55-year streak. He retired in 1984 with a 724-354 record and then became a special assistant to the president while also doing radio commentary.

"He was a sweetheart of a guy who always made you feel good about life and made sure you knew you were lucky to be around this game," said Bill Raftery, a college basketball analyst for CBS who once coached at Seton Hall.

Iowa State fires coach

AMES, Iowa — Iowa State fired coach Wayne Morgan and his staff Friday in the wake of a reported recruiting scam.

"The fact that we didn't make the NCAA tournament or the NIT contributed to this decision," ISU athletic director Jamie Pollard said, "but I want to emphasize it clearly is not the only reason for making this decision."

Morgan's firing came two days after Iowa State was mentioned as one of several basketball programs that may have received recruits from Los Angeles City Community College coach Mike Miller in exchange for paying Miller's business, D1 Scheduling, to arrange games for the university programs.