March 3, 2011
San Antonio – Buddy Meyer and Halls of Fame just seem to go hand in hand.
The legendary, longtime former St. Mary’s men’s basketball coach already was in the St. Mary’s Hall of Fame, the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame and the NAIA Hall of Fame.
And recently, he added the Heartland Conference Hall of Fame to his unparalleled résumé.
Meyer was inducted into the Heartland Conference Hall of Fame in a unanimous vote of the conference’s presidents, becoming just the second member inducted into the Hall of Fame.
St. Mary’s University and the Heartland Conference will celebrate Meyer’s honor at halftime of Friday’s men’s basketball game, as the Rattlers play Texas-Permian Basin in the semifinals round of the Heartland Conference Tournament at 5 p.m. Friday at Bill Greehey Arena.
Tickets will cost $3 for students and $10 for adults.
Meyer was the head coach at St. Mary’s for 27 years from 1978-2005, going 530-252 with 17 conference championships, seven NAIA District VI crowns, three NCAA Division II appearances and, of course, the famed NAIA national championship in 1989. He also served as the University’s Athletics Director for 21 years, overseeing the transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II.
Meyer played a key role in St. Mary’s athletics for 41 years – a wide-ranging career that included legendary stints as a player, assistant coach and head coach.
His No. 44 hangs in the rafters inside Bill Greehey Arena, and he still ranks fifth on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,581 career points. A 1965 graduate of St. Mary’s, he became the first St. Mary’s student-athlete to earn first-team All-Conference honors for four consecutive years.
In 2007, the Rattlers’ court was renamed Buddy and Anna Meyer Court in the honor of him and his wife, Anna.