UD legend enters Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
A marathon practice with taskmaster Tom Blackburn was awaiting them, but Don "Monk" Meineke thought he and his Dayton teammates needed an even longer session to reverse a four-game losing skid.
Though only a sophomore, he organized an extra workout before practice, and the team was running through plays when the UD coach arrived.
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"He said, 'Meineke, what are you doing?' " the 6-foot-7 center recalled. "I said, 'Tom, we don't understand your offense.' He goes, 'You'd better learn quick. If not, we'll replace you all with students.' "
Blackburn may have been bluffing, but Meineke made sure that was a moot point. He led the Flyers to a breakthrough season in 1949-50 and flourished offensively the rest of his career.
He'll be inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday, May 17, along with former UD women's coach Maryalyce Jeremiah, who won the 1980 AIAW Division II national title and had a runner-up finish in two seasons at the school. Central State's 1965 and 1968 NAIA national title teams also are being honored.
Meineke set UD season scoring records in each of his three years — he's sixth in career points at UD with 1,866 — and he led the nation in field goal percentage as a junior with a .512 mark.
The Wilbur Wright High School grad is part of an unlikely local trio that lifted the Flyers to national prominence. Meineke and Chuck Grigsby (Stivers) were toiling in a rec league when Blackburn found them, while Junior Norris (Fairmont) was searching for a place to land after withdrawing from Ohio University.
"Basically, nobody wanted us. We were a bunch of rejects," said Meineke, 78. "We were just hard-nosed guys that played (well) when the pressure was on."
Meineke was the NBA's first rookie of the year, winning the award with the Fort Wayne Pistons in 1953. But there was little fanfare then.
"I didn't know I won it until I read it in the paper," he said. "At the end of the season, there were only three rookies playing — me, Jim Holstein from Cincinnati and Jack McMahon from St. John's — and I was the only starter. I think that was a no-brainer.
"I get a lot of play from that. I guess that's my claim to fame."
Until now.
Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame
What: Third annual induction ceremony
When: 7 p.m. Saturday, May 17
Where: Columbus Convention Center, 400 N. High St.
Tickets: Cost $75 and can be purchased at ohiohoopzone.com or by calling (614) 792-7748
Inductees: College coaches Tippy Dye and Harold Olsen (Ohio State), Bob Huggins (Cincinnati), Maryalyce Jeremiah (Dayton) and Ray Mears (Wittenberg); college players Don Meineke (Dayton), Jim Cleamons, Allan Hornyak, Frank Howard, Neil Johnston, Arnie Risen, Larry Siegfried and Herb Williams (Ohio State), Bob Harrison and Phil Hubbard (Michigan), Semeka Randall (Tennessee), Steve Thomas (Xavier), Caroline Mast Daugherty (Ohio U.) and Al Thrasher (Wittenberg); high school player Rex Leach; referee Jim Desmond and Central State's 1965 and 1968 NAIA national championship teams.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125 or at dharris@DaytonDailyNews.com.
