Northern State's Meyer loses final game of career

ABERDEEN, S.D. -- Northern State coach Don Meyer, the winningest men's coach in NCAA history, ended his career with a 56-51 loss to Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday night.

The 65-year-old Meyer finished his career with a record of 923-324, his final victory coming Wednesday over Minnesota State-Moorhead.

Meyer announced his retirement last Monday, saying he no longer has the physical or mental energy to run the basketball program at its "highest possible level."

In September 2008, Meyer was injured in a car accident that later resulted in the amputation of his left leg below the knee. Doctors then discovered he had an inoperable form of cancer.

Meyer continued to coach despite his health problems, and in January 2009, he broke Bob Knight's record of 902 wins, coaching from the sidelines in a wheelchair.

The NCAA considers Meyer the winningest men's college basketball coach, even though his career was split between the NAIA and NCAA. The NCAA's statistics department counts all of a coach's victories at four-year U.S. colleges if there's a minimum of 10 years at NCAA schools.

A couple of other coaches can also make claims on most wins, though.

On Tuesday night, Philadelphia University's Herb Magee passed Knight's wins mark counting only NCAA games, and Harry Statham at NAIA powerhouse McKendree University notched his 1,000th victory earlier this season.

Meyer was the recipient of the Jimmy V. Perseverance Award last July, and in April, he will receive the Legends of the Hardwood Award at the Final Four.

He plans to remain on staff at Northern State, helping to promote the Division II school that has already named its court in his honor. The school has said it will conduct a national search to find his successor.