Northern State University (NSU) Athletics

Head Coach Don Meyer
NSU: 160-75 (eight seasons)
Overall: 862-295
(35 seasons; 5th on all-time winningest college basketball coaches list)

Birth date: Dec. 16, 1944
Family: Wife - Carmen, Son - Jerry,
Daughters - Brooke and Brittney
Hometown: Wayne, Neb.
Alma Mater: Northern Colorado - 1967
Major: Physical Education
Minor: English

Don Meyer is Northern State University’s 20th head men’s basketball coach and led the program into the new millennium.

Meyer made his third straight appearance in the NCAA Regional in the 2005-06 season, making it all the way to the Sweet 16 and the regional championship before losing to the eventual NCAA DII national champions, Winona State.

In 2006-07, Meyer marked his 26th career 20+ win season as the Wolves went 21-8 overall. This also marks the sixth consecutive season that Meyer has led Northern State to 20+ wins. Meyer ranks fifth in all-time wins among men's college basketball coaches at the four-year level at any division. He leads all NCAA DII coaches, past and present, with his 862 wins.

In 2004-05, Meyer surpassed 800 career wins and led the Wolves to their second straight NSIC Tournament Championship. His 800th career win came on Saturday, December 11, 2004 when the Wolves defeated Minnesota Duluth 69-50. 5,437 fans were in attendance at the Barnett Center in Aberdeen that evening to witness the milestone that has been reached by just a handful of collegiate coaches.

In his third season at Northern, Meyer guided the Wolves to the 2002 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference co-championship and earned NSIC Coach of the Year honors. At Northern, Meyer has coached 12 all-conference performers, four all-region performers, two NSIC MVP (Brad Hansen & Matt Hammer), two NSIC Tournament MVPs (Steve Smiley & Matt Hammer) NSIC Defensive Player of the Year (Smiley) and one All-American honorable mention selection (Hansen).

Prior to Northern, Meyer spent 24 years coaching NAIA I David Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn. There, he reached the 700-win plateau faster than any other coach in the history of college basketball.

Meyer’s Lipscomb teams spent a decade winning more games than any other team in the country, averaging more than 32 wins per season for 10 years before his move to Northern. His 1989-90 team set a college basketball record with 41 wins. Meyer’s Bison teams made 13 national tournament appearances, winning the NAIA National Championship in 1986. Meyer was named NAIA National Coach of the Year in 1989 and 1990, and was selected to the NAIA Hall of Fame at the age of 47. He also assisted coach Mike Krzyzewski with the Olympic Sports Festival South Team in 1983.

Using a motion offense similar to Northern’s, Meyer’s teams led the nation in scoring in 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993 and 1995, averaging more than 100 points per game in each of those seasons. Meyer also coached college basketball’s first and second all-time leading scorers, former Lipscomb Bisons John Pierce and Philip Hutcheson. Meyer’s son, Jerry, broke college basketball’s career assist record while playing for his father at Lipscomb. Bison Marcus Bodie holds the single-season and career record for steals in college basketball. Bison Andy McQueen holds the career 3-point field goals made record. Meyer’s system has produced three National Players of the Year and 22 All-Americans. Two of his Lipscomb players have received the GTE Academic Excellence Award for basketball.

Meyer’s name is respected nationally in the coaching ranks. In nine years, well over 10,000 coaches from all over the nation have attended the Don Meyer Coaches Academy. Meyer's featured speakers read as a who's who in the coaching ranks. In 2001, he brought the Academy to Aberdeen with Tennessee's Pat Summitt as keynote speaker. In 2002, John Wooden and Dick Bennet were featured in the academy. Tubby Smith and Jerry Krause will speak at the 2006 Academy.

Meyer also produces instructional books and a 30-tape series “Building a Championship Program” that has helped coaches at every level from high school to the NBA. Programs using the tapes include perennial Division I powerhouses Duke, Kansas, Wake Forest, North Carolina, and NBA franchises like the Utah Jazz and Seattle Supersonics. He also built the summer Bison Basketball Camps into the most successful players’ camp in the country, drawing 4,500 campers annually. During the past year, Meyer’s coaches’ and players’ camps have been huge successes in Aberdeen.

Meyer has also given motivational speeches throughout the country and published numerous articles for many coaching publications.

A native of Wayne, Neb., Meyer had aspirations as a youngster of one day being a major league baseball player. Not only was he an outstanding baseball player, but he also excelled in the game that would become his life – basketball. Meyer attended the University of Northern Colorado and graduated in 1967. While at UNC, Meyer played baseball and basketball. On the baseball field, he posted a career pitching record of 22-2 and caught the attention of pro scouts. On the basketball court, Meyer led UNC to the 1966 NCAA college division playoffs and was named NCAA All-American. Meyer began his coaching career at Western State (Colo.) where he was an assistant from 1968-70. From there he went to the University of Utah where he served as an assistant basketball coach from 1970-72 and earned a Ph.D.

Meyer received his first head coaching position in 1972 when he was hired by Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn. He spent three seasons there where he had a record of 37-41. Meyer took a program at Hamline that had a 30-177 record the six previous seasons. After a 5-20 record in his first season, Meyer turned things around, recording 16-10 and 16-11 records the next two seasons. Hamline reached the NCAA Division III Elite Eight in Meyer’s last year with the institution. In the early years at Lipscomb, Meyer used the rules of the game to get the most talent out of his players. Often playing opponents who were bigger, stronger and faster than the Lipscomb athletes, Meyer’s slow-down fundamental-style won many games. As the game and rules changed over the years, Meyer changed with the times to develop in his Lipscomb teams the most explosive offense in the nation.

In 1982 the Bison made it to the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City for the first time. Soon after, the Bison became a permanent fixture at the national tournament.

Don Meyer resides in Aberdeen with his wife, Carmen.

THE MEYER FILE:
Winning %: .745
Nat’l Championships: 1
Nat’l Tournaments: 14

Notes: Fastest coach to 700 wins in the history of college basketball.

Head Assistant Coach Randy Baruth

Fourth Season

Randy Baruth will enter his fourth season as the men's basketball head assistant coach in 2007-08. After attending Dakota Wesleyan University (DWU) where he majored in elementary education and played basketball, Baruth taught fourth grade and was the assistant boys and girls basketball coach at Parkston High School in Parkston, S.D. In 2002, he moved on to North Dakota State University (NDSU) where he was a graduate assistant under former NSU assistant coach Tim Miles and earned his masters in education leadership. During his tenure at NDSU, the Bison won its tenth-ever 20-win season and first in six years. This included 13 home wins, which ranks second in school history.

Baruth, a native of Alpena, S.D. has been on staff at NSU since April of 2004, which began as a volunteer role. He has helped plan and coach at the Don Meyer Coaching Academy the past four years. Baruth and wife, Meghan, reside in Aberdeen.

Assistant Coach Brad Christenson

16th Season

Entering his 16th season at NSU, Brad "BC" Christenson has helped the Wolves advance to three NAIA National Tournaments, including two national championship games, and six NCAA II National postseason tournaments, including an Elite Eight bid in 1997-98. With BC's help, NSU has won eight Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference titles and two NSIC Tournament Titles. His duties include on-the-floor coaching and scouting.

Christenson was the head freshman girls coach as well as a varsity assistant girls coach at Aberdeen Central High School from 1995-98, where he currently works as a math and business teacher.

Christenson earned his bachelor's degree in business administration (1989) and Master's degree in professional accountancy (1990) from the University of South Dakota. He received his teacher certification from NSU in 1993.

Graduate Assistant Scott Stevens

Second Season

The 2007-08 season will mark the second year that Scott Stevens has served as graduate assistant for the Wolves men's basketball team. He is originally from Fort Collins, Colorado and spent the last two years as an assistant coach at Otero Junior College in Colorado. With his help, the Otero teams went 40-18 in those two years.

Stevens also spent four years as a collegiate athlete. He was a two-year starter at Otero JC, leading his team to a 42-19 record. He was named All-Region IX in 2000-01 and left Otero ranking 20th on the all-time scoring list. Stevens rounded out his playing career at the University of Alaska-Anchorage, where he was a two-time team captain and a scholar athlete in 2003-04.

The history major received his degree from the Univ. of Alaska-Anchorage in 2004 and is currently working toward a Masters degree at Northern State.

Assistant Coach Steve Smiley

Second Season

Steve Smiley will be entering his second year as an assistant coach at Northern State. Originally from Arvada, CO, Steve comes to the Wolves from Black Hills State where he served as head assistant coach. Black Hills State went 17-14 under Smiley, losing in the DAC-10 tournament championship.

Steve played collegiate ball at Northern State, where he was a three-year starter on teams that won the NSIC regular season championship during his sophomore and junior years and the NSIC conference tournament championship during his senior season. During his senior season, Steve was named NSIC Tournament MVP, NSIC Defensive Player of the Year, and was named to the All-Conference Team. Smiley finished his career at Northern State ranking second all-time in assists.

Steve earned his undergraduate degree in international business. In 2004, Steve moved to Laredo, TX with his wife, Nikki, to pursue his MBA in international business and begin his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Texas A&M International University. Steve completed his MBA in August of 2005. In his spare time, Steve wrote a book entitled Playing for Coach Meyer, a bestseller in the Aberdeen area.

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Student Assistant Ryan Hilgemann
Second Season

Northern State strength & conditioning coach Derik Budig has propelled Wolves' athletics to new heights thanks to his comprehensive strength program that has been implemented into the NSU athletic system.

Budig, a Yankton, SD native, joined the Northern staff in 2002. He earned his Master's of Science Degree in Kinesiology from the University of Texas, at El Paso (UTEP) in 2005 after working as a

graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach. He has also served as a strength and conditioning consultant for Olympic track and field athletes in El Paso. Prior to his time at UTEP, Budig was an intern for the National Football League's Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the area of strength and conditioning.

Budig has also had success on the football field where he was a four-year starter and two-year team captain for Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Student Assistant Mark Van Da Harr
First Season

Budig, a Yankton, SD native, joined the Northern staff in 2002. He earned his Master's of Science Degree in Kinesiology from the University of Texas, at El Paso (UTEP) in 2005 after working as a

Budig has also had success on the football field where he was a four-year starter and two-year team captain for Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Strength and Conditioning Coach Derik Budig

Budig, a Yankton, SD native, joined the Northern staff in 2002. He earned his Master's of Science Degree in Kinesiology from the University of Texas, at El Paso (UTEP) in 2005 after working as a

Budig has also had success on the football field where he was a four-year starter and two-year team captain for Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Budig is in charge of developing and coordinating programs which assist student/athletes in developing overall physical strength and conditioning at NSU. He is the founder and director of The Wolves Challenge, a speed, strength, and conditioning camp. In addition, Budig also organizes the weight room for all of Northern's athletic programs and is the sponsor for NSU's Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Budig lives in Aberdeen with his wife Amanda and his daughter Ella, born in April 2005. They are expecting another baby in March.

NSU HOME

NSU ATHLETICS

Northern State University (located in Aberdeen, SD) is an NCAA Division II institution and a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).
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Year	W-L
1972-73	5-20
1973-74	16-10
1974-75	16-11
1975-76	11-19
1976-77	18-9
1977-78	21-6
1978-79	21-12
1979-80	15-15
1980-81	25-11
1981-82	33-4
1982-83	19-14
1983-84	30-5
1984-85	25-9
1985-86	35-4
1986-87	27-6
1987-88	33-3
1988-89	38-2
1989-90	41-5
1990-91	35-4
1991-92	31-5
1992-93	34-4
1993-94	29-6
1994-95	30-7
1995-96	33-6
1996-97	30-6
1997-98	26-8
1998-99	25-9
1999-00	13-14
2000-01	14-13
2001-02	20-8
2002-03	20-9
2003-04	24-7
2004-05	21-10
2005-06	27-6
2006-07	21-8
Career	862-295

Meyer Break-Down by School

YEARS	SCHOOL	RECORD
1972-75 (3)	Hamline Univ. (Minn.)	37-41
1975-99 (24)	David Lipscomb (Tenn.)	665-179
1999-2007 (8)	Northern State (S.D.)	160-75
35 seasons		862-295

Rk	Coach (05-06 Rec)	Yrs	Won	Lost	Pct.
1	*Harry Statham (19-14)	40	915	356	0.720
2	Dean Smith	36	879	254	0.776
3	Adolph Rupp	41	876	190	0.822
4	*Bob Knight (15-17)	40	870	351	0.713
5	*Don Meyer (27-5)	34	841	287	0.746
6	Jim Phelan	49	830	524	0.613
7	Clarence Gaines	47	828	447	0.649
8	Jerry Johnson	46	823	443	0.650
9	*Herb Magee (20-11)	39	813	318	0.717
10	Lefty Driesell	41	786	394	0.667
	*Active
Records as of 3/14/06

2007-08 Coaching Staff