Dave Meyers to Be Inducted Into Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame
December 31, 2024 | Men's Basketball
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Former UCLA standout Dave Meyers has been selected for induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2024, as announced on Tuesday.
Meyers, who was inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992, passed away in October of 2015 after a nearly year-long battle with cancer. A three-year UCLA men's basketball letterwinner, Meyers had been inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor during the Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament in Las Vegas in March of 2015.
Meyers becomes the ninth former UCLA men's basketball player or head coach to earn induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
This National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2024 will be posthumously celebrated at the next National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Details for the induction event will be announced at a later date.
Meyers will join the following individuals as Class of 2024 Hall of Fame inductees: Sihugo Green (Duquesne), Lennie Rosenbluth (North Carolina), Wayne Estes (Utah State), Sam Lacey (New Mexico State), John Rudometkin (USC), Tom Stith (St. Bonaventure) and Coach Jack Hartman (Coffeyville CC, Southern Illinois and Kansas State). All members of this class will be honored posthumously.
Meyers totaled 1,051 career points over his three varsity seasons at UCLA (1973-75), shooting 48.5 percent from the field and 72.9 percent at the free throw line. As a senior for the Bruins in 1974-75, he secured consensus first-team All-America honors as he averaged 18.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. He led UCLA to a 28-3 record, culminating with a 92-85 win over Kentucky in the NCAA championship contest (he recorded 24 points and 11 rebounds in that game).
The second overall selection in the 1975 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers, Meyers played for the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA for four seasons (1975-76 through 1979-80). He averaged 14.7 points per game in 80 contests with the Milwaukee Bucks during his third NBA season (1977-78).
Meyers was part of a five-man trade that brought Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Lakers from the Milwaukee Bucks. He played for Milwaukee through 1980. Following his NBA career, he became a teacher in Lake Elsinore, Calif., and taught for more than 30 years.
A standout player at Sonora High School (La Habra, Calif.), Meyers earned CIF Player of the Year honors and prep All-America acclaim as a senior when he averaged 23 points and 16 rebounds per game.
As a freshman for the Bruins in 1972, Meyers earned the Seymour Armond Memorial Award as the most valuable player on the UCLA freshman team. He led that squad to a 17-5 record as the Bruins' No. 2 scorer (averaging 20.7 points per game).
As a sophomore in 1973, Meyers came off the bench and averaged 4.9 points and 2.9 rebounds per contest. The Bruins' squad posted a perfect 30-0 record that season. Meyers was named the outstanding defensive player of the year (dubbed UCLA's Irv Pohlmeyer Memorial Trophy).
As a junior at UCLA in 1974, Meyers averaged 11.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. He led UCLA's program to a 26-4 record. That season, he was honored with UCLA's Bruin Bench Award, bestowed upon the player with the most improvement in all-around play and mental attitude.
The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, a program of the NABC Foundation, has honored the game's greatest contributors since 2006. The Hall of Fame is housed in The College Basketball Experience in Kansas City, Mo.
Other former UCLA men's basketball players who have been inducted include Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (2006), Gail Goodrich (2006), Bill Walton (2006), Sidney Wicks (2010), Marques Johnson (2013), Jamaal Wilkes (2016) and David Greenwood (2021). UCLA's 1963-64 men's basketball team was inducted in 2020, and former UCLA head coach John Wooden was inducted in 2006.