RIP Joey Meyer

[Lennys Tap]

Herman hit the nail on the head regarding WGN. The Cubs also benefitted from the same super channel.

CPS issues arose when DePaul started recruiting around the country and after Teddy Grubbs. Joey was the guy recruiting nationally and was good at it for a while. Along come conferences and tv contracts where DePaul lost it's advantage. You were lucky to see Marquette twice a year outside of Milwaukee prior to conferences.

Joey was sold down the river when an alum was making some illegal contributions and things fully went south from there. Joey was a good coach but was also dealing with similar player issues as Rick Majerus in those days. Kind of hard to retain respect of players when Rod Strickland did whatever he wanted. Same issues for him in the NBA.

Excellent summation of DePaul’s/Joey Meyer’s demise.

[88Warrior]

Except DePaul started to struggle AFTER they joined the Great Midwest.  And Meyer coached a full decade after Strickland left the program.

The problem was that Meyer wasn't a great coach. And after they joined the Great Midwest, which jacked up the strength of their schedule after years of being an independent, they just couldn't compete after awhile. They just hung onto him way too long.

Depaul's slide started after national broadcasting rights went away most likely due to them joining the Great Midwest in early 90's and federal regulations. MU joined the MCC in 88 because they needed to do anything they could do to rescue things after hiring Dukiet. It also wasn't a coincidence that Rick left in the summer of 86. No one leaves a coaching job during the summer.

I will take DP's run from 84 to 92 when they made tournament NCAA tournament 7of 8 years as opposed to ZERO for Marquette. All of us suffered through those years.

Grew up in Chicago and Depaul was Chicago's team in the 70's and 80's until the Bears came along.

[dgies9156]

It's hard for more recently born people to understand how strong DePaul's hold on Chicago was in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Back in the very early 1980s, before we fully hit the slide that nearly took down the program, a Marquette/DePaul, or a Notre Dame/DePaul ticket was gold. DePaul began playing at the Rosemont Horizon and, as crappy as that arena was, it was unbelievable how many people showed up. DePaul truly was Chicago's team and they were good. Some of the games we had with them were legendary, though after Al left, we rarely won.

Mind you, this was pre-Michael. The NBA had a serious drug problem. Magic and Larry were just about to enter/entering the NBA and the Bulls absolutely sucked. The Bears were really terrible and the Cubs were years removed from the infamous Summer of 1969. Other than the 1977 South Side Hit Men, the Sox were nothing. Then, as now, Chicago had no real college football. Oh, and today's ever-present cable television was relegated to WTBS, WGN, WOR and a station or two in Los Angeles. Sports was the Cubs, Atlanta Braves, Sunday NFL and regional/local college basketball. WGN broadcast the Blue Demons, who were really, really good.

The biggest factor, apart from bad management, in DePaul's fall, may have been ESPN!

[Goose]

dgies

I agree that DePaul was a big deal for nearly decade. The Rosemont was jumping and a difficult place to play. I made the trek down many times during that era and cannot remember driving home a happy MU fan. They had great players and Al made them media darlings which added to the excitement. Add in that half their team should have been at MU, it made for a great rivalry.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Oh I completely understand De Paul's history. But some here want to let Joey off the hook for how it fell apart so quickly. Sure there were factors outside of his control, but the product on the court was bad the last half of his tenure - and they just let it ride even though there was no indication that his coaching was ever giving their talent any "extra."

[mujivitz06]

Wife's cousin is married to his son. Joey was an amazingly kind man and a coach that did his best to live up to a huge legacy. Laid to rest today in Chicago. Meyers were synonmous with Chicago hoops and Ray and Al were close friends has been documented a lot. RIP Joey Meyer.

[mujivitz06]

dgies

I agree that DePaul was a big deal for nearly decade. The Rosemont was jumping and a difficult place to play. I made the trek down many times during that era and cannot remember driving home a happy MU fan. They had great players and Al made them media darlings which added to the excitement. Add in that half their team should have been at MU, it made for a great rivalry.

Is it true that Marquette would have gotten Aguirre and Cummings had Al stayed a couple more years? I always hear those rumors.

[real chili 83]

Is it true that Marquette would have gotten Aguirre and Cummings had Al stayed a couple more years? I always hear those rumors.

You should ask Sultan. He is an expert on this, and everything else.

[Goose]

chili

Huh? Sultan an expert?

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

You should ask Sultan. He is an expert on this, and everything else.

Damn right...but I don't know the answer to this one.

[Lennys Tap]

Oh I completely understand De Paul's history. But some here want to let Joey off the hook for how it fell apart so quickly. Sure there were factors outside of his control, but the product on the court was bad the last half of his tenure

Good first 8 years (7 NCAA, 1 NIT), not good last 5 (2 NIT), so “the last half” is inaccurate.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Good first 8 years (7 NCAA, 1 NIT), not good last 5 (2 NIT), so “the last half” is inaccurate.

[dgies9156]

Is it true that Marquette would have gotten Aguirre and Cummings had Al stayed a couple more years? I always hear those rumors.

Good question.

The urban legend is yes and that much of the talent that made DePaul successful in the 1980s otherwise would have gone to Marquette.

Al made a habit of recruiting outstanding talent from Chicago and you can bet he knew well about the talented players DePaul ended up recruiting. Al rarely lost players he really wanted and there’s a good chance some of DePaul’s talent would have ended up in Milwaukee.

Would it have happened the way we with blue and gold glasses wanted, had Al stayed, is anybody’s guess. It is hard to predict what never was.

[cheebs09]

Good question.

The urban legend is yes and that much of the talent that made DePaul successful in the 1980s otherwise would have gone to Marquette.

Al made a habit of recruiting outstanding talent from Chicago and you can bet he knew well about the talented players DePaul ended up recruiting. Al rarely lost players he really wanted and there’s a good chance some of DePaul’s talent would have ended up in Milwaukee.

Would it have happened the way we with blue and gold glasses wanted, had Al stayed, is anybody’s guess. It is hard to predict what never was.

I believe it was those guys and Isiah Thomas had MU at the top of their list with Al. Not sure if any of that is true.

[Uncle Rico]

I heard Jordan had Marquette at the top of his list before Al quit

[4everwarriors]

What did Wilt tell 'bout Al's recruitment of him, hey?

[tower912]

Ask Herman.