I grew up a DePaul fan, tail end of ray but mostly joeys teams. I think he is quite good on the radio with eanet, but I've been curious, what's his connection to NU (and maybe it's none, just like Ted on the football booth) and what does joey do other than the NU basketball games - is he really able to get by on being ray's son and coaching good teams 25-30 years ago?
Joey Meyer
- Thread starter Windy City Cat Fan
- Start date
Without Ray, Joey and those DePaul teams of the early 80s, I'm not the college basketball fan that I am. It was fun to watch those teams go out and whup a bunch weak teams then wonder why they couldn't beat well-coached teams in a 16- and 32-team tournament.
So it might be with a bit of nostalgia that I agree he adds quite a bit on the radio - maybe not in the most smooth presentation. But assuming the budget WGN has for that color commentary spot, I think he's pretty good. You're not going to get the Steve Stone of college basketball in that job.
His connection with NU probably has as much to do with Eanet as anything.
However, this isn't his first stint as NU color commentary. After Joey had a somewhat ugly dismissal by a scheming DePaul AD, Ray and Joey froze out DePaul by participating in the O'Neill NU teams. Joey was doing radio, while Ray regularly attended games for - I want to say - two years.
For many years, he coached NBDL teams - several times to championships. For the last several years, I think his day job has been a scout for the Clippers.
So it might be with a bit of nostalgia that I agree he adds quite a bit on the radio - maybe not in the most smooth presentation. But assuming the budget WGN has for that color commentary spot, I think he's pretty good. You're not going to get the Steve Stone of college basketball in that job.
His connection with NU probably has as much to do with Eanet as anything.
However, this isn't his first stint as NU color commentary. After Joey had a somewhat ugly dismissal by a scheming DePaul AD, Ray and Joey froze out DePaul by participating in the O'Neill NU teams. Joey was doing radio, while Ray regularly attended games for - I want to say - two years.
For many years, he coached NBDL teams - several times to championships. For the last several years, I think his day job has been a scout for the Clippers.
Actually he is a talent of his own. Coached DePaul after Ray and then both wrote DePaul off after he was un-ceremonially dismissed. has done NU games on and off for quite a few years and Ray attended NU games after divorcing himself from DePaul. He also coached minor league BB for awhile and in fact coached Jitim Young for awhile. I like his commentary much more then some of the other guys they have used.
DePaul's big niche in Chicago came with the Meyer legacy. When Bill Bradshow sabotaged Joey there, he ended all that and DePaul has gone to basic irrelevancy. To get noticed again they will have to win BIG and that's going to be very difficult in the current basketball landscape. Joey is a class act and does a very solid job of commentary. His name also lends to credibility of the broadcast.
I'm kind of surprised that he hasn't been given another shot at coaching. Maybe he would be a good add to the NU staff, when James hangs it up, although he might not want to get back into that grind.
I was a huge DePaul fan in high school when Corzine and then Aguirre led the Blue Demons. Completely agree that Joey got shafted. I think the same thing happened to his brother at UIC after he built that program to respectability.
I thought the wheels came off when DePaul joined a conference which I remember the AD pushing and the Meyers not being to keen about.
One of my favorite basketball memories was when a favored UCLA played DePaul at the Horizon. Mark Eaton was put into the game and Terry Cummings violently blocked his shot. DePaul won handily.
I also enjoyed DePaul regularly beating TSISB.
I thought the wheels came off when DePaul joined a conference which I remember the AD pushing and the Meyers not being to keen about.
One of my favorite basketball memories was when a favored UCLA played DePaul at the Horizon. Mark Eaton was put into the game and Terry Cummings violently blocked his shot. DePaul won handily.
I also enjoyed DePaul regularly beating TSISB.
I agree. And don't forget how much fun it was for Loyola to make the Sweet 16 in 1985. I was a Medill student at the time, and did a story on Gene Sullivan for a class assignment right after the tournament appearance. Even though he knew the piece was not for publication, Sullivan invited me to his office in the old Alumni Gym to conduct a lengthy interview. He was so friendly and generous with his time. Ray Meyer gave me a short phone interview to offer some comments on Sullivan, and also was quite gracious. Good memories from a golden era of Chicago college hoops.
Ah, Alfredrick Hughes. Great scorer without a conscience.
http://www.si.com/vault/1985/01/21/546261/shoot-first-last-and-always
DePaul was the biggest game in town for awhile but that began to change with the arrival of Michael Jeffery Jordan. Bulls began to take a lot of the hoops attention. Joey had a couple of really tough years, but Ronnie Fields, the electrifying high schooler, was ready to go there before Bradshaw pulled the plug. Academics would have been a problem for Fields, but if he had played, he might have gotten attention back for DePaul. Even Pat Kennedy's short tenure there with Quentin Richardson et al. didn't recreate the excitement and since then they've gone completely invisible in Chicago. It'll be interesting to see if a new arena will revive interest, but I doubt it will ever be anything close to what it was.
The recruiting was amazing.
Embry and Holmes, Kenny Patterson, Dallas Comegys, the kid from Luther South with one leg shorter than the other. They got everyone they wanted for years.
I remember being so excited about Ray McCoy leaving USF and transferring to DePaul. McCoy and Isiah Thomas were first team AA's their senior year ('79). I don't think McCoy every hit a shot for DePaul. Ray Meyer used to talk about it to the media, he'd hit them in practice but had a mental block about shooting in a game.
Embry and Holmes, Kenny Patterson, Dallas Comegys, the kid from Luther South with one leg shorter than the other. They got everyone they wanted for years.
I remember being so excited about Ray McCoy leaving USF and transferring to DePaul. McCoy and Isiah Thomas were first team AA's their senior year ('79). I don't think McCoy every hit a shot for DePaul. Ray Meyer used to talk about it to the media, he'd hit them in practice but had a mental block about shooting in a game.
Wasn't it going to be Howard Nathan, Kleinschmidt from Gordon Tech and Brandon Cole - I think only kleinschmidt if those three played. Then Ronnie fields and eddy curry (he might have been with pat Kennedy) committed but never came. Those teams though with rod Strickland, Kevin Edwards, Terrence Greene etc. were so fun to follow
DePaul basketball was the focus of my sports fandom from the late 70s to the early 80s ... Joe Ponsetto, Gary Garland, Clyde the Glide Bradshaw, Teddy Grubbs, Skip Dillard, Tyrone Corbin ... not to mention the superstars like Corzine, Aguirre, and Cummings. That 1979 team that made the Final Four (in the year of Bird and Magic) was the biggest Chicago sports story of my lifetime to that point -- this was before the '84 Cubs, the '85 Bears, and the Jordan-era Bulls. Incredible that the Blue Demons then lost their first round game as a #1 NCAA seed in three straight years: '80, '81, and '82. Crushing.
DePaul basketball (late 60's) had a major indirect influence through my brother on my basketball fanship as well. Plus, they played a huge role in my playing basketball in HS and later landing a football schollie. Having a brother who was 6'8" and who tried out for and played BB at DePaul with Joey under Ray didn't hurt my football recruitment, either. My HS football coach always mentioned it when recruiters came by.
Walter Downing. One leg was like three inches shorter. Top hs player in Illinois his senior year. He did have an incredible spin move. But only on one side of the key. Think he transferred to....Marquette maybe.
I hope I'm not confusing my DePaul eras, but I think Sam Cassell was suppose to be in the ballpark of that group also. He committed, then found problems with the suddenly stringent grade restrictions at DePaul.
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