Ray Meyer, DePaul's men's basketball coach from 1942-84, has resigned his position as Special Assistant to DePaul University President, the Rev. John P. Minogue, C.M., it was announced today.

"Life is a journey," says Meyer. "There is a time to come and a time to go. I wish DePaul well. DePaul is a fine University that has contributed a great deal to the young people of Chicago and no doubt will continue to do so. Thank God, I enjoy good health and I am not retiring. I intend to continue working on my summer basketball camp and other interesting projects."

The legendary hall of fame coach compiled a record of 724-354 (.671) in his 42 seasons at DePaul. In his career, 13 of his teams advanced to the NCAA Tournament and seven of his squads played in the National Invitational Tournament. His 1943 and 1979 teams advanced to the NCAA Final Four while his 1945 team, featuring future Hall of Famer George Mikan, won the NIT when it was considered the national championship. One of only seven Division I coaches to win at least 700 games, Coach Ray posted 37 winning seasons and 12, 20-win campaigns. In his last seven years at DePaul (1977-84), he posted an impressive record of 180-30 (.857). Six of those teams advanced to the NCAA Tournament and his 1983 team played in the NIT finals.

"Ray Meyer has been a tremendous ambassador of goodwill since 1942," says Minogue. "Ray's love and mentoring of his players and the kids at his camp was and is both a gift to many and example of what is best in Vincentian spirituality. He has witnessed the university's transition from the little school under the El to the premier national university it is today. He has made enormous contributions to the institution of college basketball and to DePaul basketball. It has been my privilege to work with Ray. On behalf of our faculty, staff, students, alumni, friends and trustees, I thank Ray for 55 years of service and wish him the best in the future. I will recommend to the board of trustees at its October meeting that DePaul name its new student recreation facility in Ray Meyer's honor. I have every expectation the board will accept my recommendation."

Inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1979, Meyer is recognized around the basketball world simply as "Coach". His 724 career wins rank him sixth on the all-time list behind Dean Smith (851), Adolph Rupp (875), Phog Allen (771), Henry Iba (767) and Ed Diddle (759). In 1978 and 1980, he was named coach of the year by the United States Basketball Writers Association and by the Associated Press in 1980 and 1984. In addition, he was named the Kodak Man of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) in 1980 and was awarded the John Bunn Award from the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1981 for contributions to the game of basketball. He was also honored with the NIT-NACDA Award in 1984.

"Today we look back on Ray's 42 years of coaching at DePaul and remember the excitement of his 13 trips to the NCAA Tournament and seven appearances in the NIT," says James Doyle, vice president for student affairs at DePaul. "His leadership took the Blue Demons and Chicago itself to an NIT Championship at the beginning of his coaching career and a Final Four appearance at the end. He developed many friendships in the university community and his presence will be missed. DePaul is committed to the standards that were a hallmark of the athletic program during the Meyer years: academic integrity, athletic excellence and recruiting quality."

Besides his Naismith Hall of Fame honor, Coach Ray is also a member of the Illinois and Chicago Sports Hall of Fames, Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the DePaul Hall of Fame. The 83-year-old Meyer was also honored in 1992 by the NABC with the Balfour Golden Anniversary Ring for 50 years of contributions to basketball.

"For 55 years to much of the nation, Ray Meyer was DePaul basketball," says Athletic Director Bill Bradshaw. "As a Hall of Fame basketball coach and athletic administrator, Coach Ray represented the university in a first-class manner. It was Ray's dream to build a multi-use student recreation facility, and I am happy to say that DePaul is set to break ground on the first phase of that complex in the spring."

Since retiring as coach in 1984, Coach Ray has served as Special Assistant to the President of DePaul where his duties included fund raising and special projects. In addition, Meyer also did color commentary for DePaul basketball games on WGN Radio for the past 13 years. In his 55 years at DePaul, he attended 1,467 consecutive Blue Demon games, never missing a DePaul contest in that time span. Meyer was succeeded at DePaul by his son, Joey, who recorded a career record of 231-158 (.594) in 13 seasons before resigning on April 28.