Ann Meyers
WBL draft 1978: 1st round, 1st overall pick | | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Selected by the Houston Angels | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 1978–1981 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Shooting guard | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 15 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1979–1981 | New Jersey Gems | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Basketball Hall of Fame as player | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Women's Basketball Hall of Fame | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIBA Hall of Fame as player | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medals
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Ann Meyers Drysdale (born Ann Elizabeth Meyers; March 26, 1955) is an American retired pro
sportscaster
. She was a standout player in high school, college, the Olympic Games, international tournaments, and at professional levels.
Meyers was the first player to be part of the
UCLA.[1] She was also the first woman to sign a contract with a National Basketball Association team, the 1979 Indiana Pacers
, for $50,000.
Meyers was president and general manager for the
FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007 and into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame
in 2016.
Early life
Meyers was born on March 26, 1955, the sixth of Patricia and Bob Meyers' 11 children. Her father played guard for
Dave, was an All-American at UCLA and went on to play for the Milwaukee Bucks.[4]
Athletic accomplishments
High school
Meyers attended Cornelia Connelly High School and then later
Most Valuable Player awards in high school sports. She led her basketball teams to an 80–5 record. In 1974, Meyers became the first high school student to play for the U.S. national team.[4]
College
Meyers was a four-year athletic scholarship player for the
UCLA (1976–1979), she became the first four-time All-American women's basketball player. She was the winner of the Honda Sports Award as outstanding women's college basketball player of the year, as well as the Broderick Cup for outstanding woman athlete of the year in 1978.[8][9] As of 2008, she still holds UCLA career records for season steals (125), career steals (403), and career blocked shots (101).[6]
UCLA statistics
Source[10]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | Points | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977–78 | UCLA | 29 | 538 | .526 | .800 | 9.6 | 6.3 | 4.3 | 1.1 | 18.6 |
| 1976–77 | UCLA | 22 | 402 | .505 | .828 | 7.3 | 5.0 | 3.5 | 1.3 | 18.3 |
| 1975–76 | UCLA | 23 | 323 | .426 | .730 | 8.2 | 5.6 | 3.6 | 0.7 | 14.0 |
| 1974–75 | UCLA | 23 | 422 | .528 | .767 | 8.3 | 5.4 | 5.2 | 1.1 | 18.3 |
| Career | 97 | 1,685 | .500 | .785 | 8.4 | 5.6 | 4.2 | 1.0 | 17.4 |
Olympics and world competition
Meyers was a member of the
FIBA World Championship for Women Gold medal.[4] This was the first time since 1957 that the United States won a World Championship title. She also won silver medals at the 1979 Pan American Games and 1977 World University Games.[4]
Meyers was named to the team representing the US at the 1979
Taipei, Taiwan. The USA team won all six games en route to the gold medal.[11]
Professional
In July 1978, Meyers was selected first overall by the Houston Angels in the inaugural Women's Professional Basketball League draft. She decided against signing with the Angels to keep her amateur status and be eligible for the 1980 Olympics.
In 1979, Meyers made NBA history when she signed a $50,000 no-cut contract with
color analyst for the team at a time when there were very few women in sportscasting.[13]
After her stint with the Pacers, Meyers finally joined the WBL and signed with the New Jersey Gems. Playing for the Gems, Meyers was the WPBL Co-MVP for the 1979–1980 season.[12] She wore jersey No. 15 for the Gems.
Superstars
Meyers entered the inaugural Women Superstars competition in 1979, finishing fourth, but then went on to win the next three consecutive years: 1980, 1981, and 1982.[5]
Broadcasting career
Meyers has been the women's basketball analyst at the Summer Olympics since the NBC's coverage of the
2000 Sydney Olympics for NBC Sports. She was offered a job to broadcast the Chicago Bulls games in 1993, but she turned it down due to family considerations.[14]
She served as an analyst on
NCAA basketball
games.
She also worked as a color analyst for the Indiana Pacers making her the first woman to do game analysis for the team. In 2012, she joined the Phoenix Suns broadcast team as a color analyst.[15] On July 11, 2018, she announced her retirement from the Suns.
Meyers led the U.S. to a silver medal at the
NCAA softball
and volleyball.
Meyers served as an analyst for NBC Sports coverage of women's basketball at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics.[16]
Personal life
On November 1, 1986, she married former
Halls of Fame. They had three children: sons Don Jr. (DJ) and Darren, and daughter Drew.[17]
Meyers was widowed on July 3, 1993, when Drysdale died of a heart attack in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[18]
Meyers is the sister of former NBA player
Dave Meyers, who also played college basketball and was an All-American at UCLA, under coach John Wooden. He played four seasons for the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks
.
Previously a resident of Rancho Mirage, California,[19] Meyers resides in Huntington Beach, California.
Honors and Hall of Fame inductions
- 1978—Winner of the Honda award for basketball[20]
- 1978—The Honda-Broderick Cup winner for all sports.[21]
- Meyers received her first Hall of Fame membership in 1985, when she was inducted into the International Women's Sports Hall of Famein the contemporary category for basketball.
- She was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988 as the first woman inductee.
- Her No. 15 basketball jersey was one of the first four retired by UCLA. She was honored on February 3, 1990, in a ceremony in Pauley Pavilion, along with Denise Curry (#12), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (#33), and Bill Walton (#32). This was the key moment in the "Pauley at 25" celebration of twenty-five years of the arena. The primary criteria for being chosen was that all four players were three-time All-Americans.[6]
- On May 10, 1993, she was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Springfield, Massachusetts.[22]
- In 1994, Meyers was the first woman ever to compete in the Celebrity Golf Association Championship.
- On January 31, 1995, she attended a ceremony in the gym of her high school, Sonora High School, in La Habra, California, where her player jersey was officially retired, and hung in display[23]
- She was inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame in 1995.
- In 1999, Meyers received the Mel Greenberg Media Award, presented by the WBCA.[24]
- On June 5, 1999, she was inducted as a charter member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, in Knoxville, Tennessee.[25]
- In 2001, Meyers was honored as a Wooden All-Time All-American by the Wooden award.
- She was a 2003 She joins William Naulls (1981), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1994), and Bill Walton (1999) as UCLA athletes who have been so honored on the 25th anniversary of a major athletic accomplishment.
- In 2007, she was enshrined in the FIBA Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural class of 2007. She is 1 of 3 United States citizens, along with male player Bill Russell and coach Dean Smithso honored.
- Ann has been involved with Special Olympics for more than 30 years and currently serves as a Sports Ambassador for Special Olympics Southern California.
See also
- List of Silver Anniversary Awards (NCAA) Recipients
- UCLA Bruins women's basketball
Notes
- ^ "Interview with Phoenix Mercury GM Ann Meyers Drysdale". April 26, 2009. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ Mercury's Drysdale adds title of president, Miami Herald, June 30, 2010
- ^ "A Lifetime of Firsts". Phoenix Woman. Retrieved June 25, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Porter p. 120
- ^ a b Woolum p 188
- ^ a b c d UCLA Women's basketball media guide
- ^ a b SKYHAWK JUNIOR MAKES NCAA HISTORY WITH QUADRUPLE-DOUBLE. University of Tennessee at Martin – UT Martin Sports, November 14, 2007 (Quadruple-double history mention)
- ^ "Past Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year Winners (Honda Cup)". CWSA. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
- ^ "The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame :: Ann Meyers". www.hoophall.com. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
- ^ "UCLA Media Guide" (PDF). Retrieved September 5, 2017.
- ^ "1979 WOMEN'S R. WILLIAM JONES CUP". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
- ^ ISBN 0-8032-8789-5.
- ^ Mercury Name Ann Meyers Drysdale As General Manager Phoenix Mercury web site, September 12, 2006
- ^ Smith, Michelle (May 7, 2010). "Ann Meyers Drysdale Epitomizes Working Mothers". AOL Sports. Archived from the original on May 10, 2010. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
- ^ "Ann Meyers Drysdale joins Phoenix Suns broadcast team". AZCentral.com. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
- ^ Medium Well: Your NBC Olympics lineup – A blog on sports media, news and networks – baltimoresun.com Archived November 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Lyons, Richard D. (July 5, 1993). "Don Drysdale, Hall of Fame Pitcher, Dies at 56". The New York Times.
- ^ Lyons, Richard D. (July 5, 1993). "Don Drysdale, Hall of Fame Pitcher, Dies at 56". The New York Times. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
- ISBN 978-1933016788.
- ^ "PAST HONDA SPORTS AWARD WINNERS FOR BASKETBALL". THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards Program. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
- ^ "Past Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year Winners (Honda Cup)". THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards Program. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
- ^ "Hall of Famers". Basketball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on August 31, 2009. Retrieved August 1, 2009.
- ^ Vencedor, Sonora High School Yearbook, Volume 29. La Habra, California: Jostens. June 1995. p. 129.
- ^ "Mel Greenberg Media Award". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
- ^ "WBHOF Inductees". WBHOF. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved August 1, 2009.
- ^ 2003 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award Recipients[permanent dead link]. National Collegiate Athletic Association, November 21, 2002
- ^ NCAA ANNOUNCES SILVER ANNIVERSARY AWARD RECIPIENTS Archived May 26, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. National Collegiate Athletic Association, November 21, 2002
Book sources
- Woolum, Janet (1998). Outstanding Women Athletes: Who They Are and How They Influenced Sports In America. Oryx Press. ISBN 978-1-57356-120-4.
- David L. Porter, ed. (2005). Basketball: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-30952-6.
Further reading
- Porter, Karra (2006). Mad Seasons: The Story of the First Women's Professional Basketball League, 1978-1981. Bison Books. ISBN 978-0803287891.
- Meyers Drysdale, Ann (2012). You Let Some Girl Beat You?: The Story of Ann Meyers Drysdale. Behler Publications. ISBN 978-1933016788.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ann Meyers Drysdale.
- Career statistics and player information from Basketball-Reference.com
- Ann Meyers at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
- Ann Meyers at the FIBA Hall of Fame
- Ann Meyers Drysdale at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
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