Joey Meyer, who succeeded his father as DePaul coach and took the Blue Demons to 7 NCAA Tournaments, dies at 74

Joey Meyer, who played at DePaul and coached the Blue Demons to seven NCAA Tournament appearances in 13 seasons, has died. He was 74.

Meyer died Friday in Hinsdale surrounded by family, DePaul said in a release. The school did not provide further information.

Meyer played at DePaul for his father, Ray, for three seasons from 1968-71, averaging 16.4 points in 75 games. The Buffalo Braves selected the guard in the 18th round of the 1971 NBA draft, but he never appeared in a game in the league.

Meyer served as an assistant to his father for 11 seasons before taking over as head coach when Ray retired after coaching DePaul from 1942-84.

Joey Meyer guided the Blue Demons to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first five seasons. They reached the Sweet 16 in 1986 and 1987.

Meyer went 231-158 in 13 seasons as DePaul’s coach. Some of his top players included Rod Strickland, David Booth and Tom Kleinschmidt.

After his time at DePaul, the Chicago native coached in the NBA’s developmental league and worked as a regional scout for the Los Angeles Clippers. He also worked as a color analyst on Northwestern basketball broadcasts on WGN-720 AM.