NCAA’S WINNINGEST MEN’S COACH DON MEYER NAMED 2012 NAISMITH OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTOR TO BASKETBALL

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

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Meyer Honor/Page 2

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.

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Contact: Jonathan Carl, MSLGroup for the Atlanta Tipoff Club 404-870-6874 [email protected]