2018 Don Meyer Award
April 4, 2018
THE 2018 MEYER AWARD
BOSTON, MA -- Graceland University’s Craig Doty is the recipient of the 2018 Don Meyer award.
Just two years after being hired as head coach, Doty put together the most historic season in program history.
After entering the 2017-18 season unranked, Doty led Graceland to a 29-10 overall record and the program’s first-ever NAIA DI Men's Basketball Championship title. The Yellowjackets won their final 11 games of the season, and 12 of their final 13. Doty’s team was an impressive 19-2 from Jan. 17 through the end of the season.
In two years since taking over, Doty had led Graceland to back-to-back 20-plus win seasons, the school’s first-ever Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament championship and a National title.
In 38 seasons at Hamline, Lipscomb and Northern State, Don Meyer compiled an astounding 923-324 record. He led Lipscomb to the NAIA national championship in 1986, and coached the two highest-scoring players in the history of college basketball, John Pierce and Philip Hutcheson. Also, his 1989-90 team at Lipscomb won a record 41 games and was the highest scoring team in college history.
In 2010, he received the John Bunn Award at the Basketball Hall of Fame. Meyer retired from coaching in February 2010. Coach Meyer lost his long battle with cancer on May 18, 2014, at the age of 69.