Basketball court officially named Dave 'Augie' Vander Meulen Court Nov. 29

November 28, 2006

Dave "Augie" Vander Meulen

To honor the former University of Wisconsin-Whitewater basketball coach, the basketball court in the Kachel Gymnasium in the Williams Center will officially be named the Dave "Augie" Vander Meulen Court during the half time ceremony of the Nov. 29 men's basketball game.

"Dave is most deserving of this honor," said Director of Athletics Paul Plinske. "His 23 years, which we're littered with a high level of success, are finally being recognized from this day forward. We couldn't be more proud."

Vander Meulen was the head coach of the men's basketball team from 1978 to 2001. During his 23 years at UW-Whitewater, he led the basketball team to more victories than any other UW-Whitewater basketball coach, with 21 winning seasons and a record of 440-182.

Vander Meulen took the basketball team to 12 NCAA Division III tournament berths, two national championships in 1984 and 1989, and guided them to four Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles. He also mentored 14 All-Americans and had eight players named WIAC "Player of the Year."

In 1984 and 1989, Vander Meulen was named the National Basketball Coaches Association Division III Coach of the Year. He was also named the National Association of Basketball Coaches Regional Coach of the Year five times. He was inducted into the UW-Whitewater Athletic Hall of Fame on Oct. 14, 2006.

Vander Meulen coached at a number of schools over the course of his 40-year career, winning many championships. As an undergraduate at UW-Madison, he started out as an assistant coach at Wisconsin High School in Madison during the 1961-62 school year. He then became the head coach at Pittsville High School. After Pittsville he moved to Rhinelander High School. After Rhinelander he started his first collegiate experience at UW-Madison. He coached at UW-Madison for seven years and then became the top assistant at North Dakota State University for two years before coming to UW-Whitewater in 1978.