Ray Meyer was Chicago basketball, long before Michael Jordan. And Coach Ray was one of my earliest role models growing up. My folks had season tickets to DePaul games from before I was born, and some of my earliest memories are of hanging from the railings at Alumni Hall, waiting for my parents to please! stop talking to their friends after the games, so I could lay down in the back seat and go to sleep on the way home.
Once, after a game, I met Coach Meyer. He sat me on his lap, and talked to me about my jump shot and whether or not I was any good at free throws, and if I was he might play me against Notre Dame. I was in heaven. My mom took a picture; it was at the end of the roll, and the picture never came out. That lost picture was one of the great tragedies of my early youth, though the imprint of that moment has never faded from my mind.
Jean Lenti Ponsetto, Director of Athletics at DPU, said it well:
“From the moment you met Coach Ray Meyer, he touched your heart with his sincerity and friendship. From then on, he was your friend for life and never forgot your name. Ray was much more than just DePaul basketball, he was a national treasure. Coach was a man who not only defined a program, but served as an ambassador for the university, the City of Chicago and the game of basketball. His legacy will live long past the memories of exciting victories, great players and special moments he brought to fans of DePaul and the game of basketball. DePaul University would not be one of the nation’s leading Catholic Universities, as it is today, without Ray Meyer.â€
Thanks Coach.
