Episode 13: Episode 13: Rick Meyers

Rick went to school at St. Thomas High School in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. There was a teacher and coach there that gave Rick his first break and turned out to be a life long mentor. That man was future NKU men’s basketball coach Kenney Shields.
Rick also attended high school with another future NKU coach Nancy Winstel. Nancy was a standout volleyball player and went on to be a three-sports athlete at NKU as well as a Hall of Fame coach.
Rick began as a student at Northern Kentucky State College in 1972 which was the second year of the athletic department’s existence. Thanks to Kenney Shields, Rick became at stats person for head coach Mote Hils whom Kenney played for at Covington Catholic High School.
While in college Rick is hired as writer and reporter for the Cincinnati Enquirer and covers a number a great sporting events during his time with the paper.
When Rick graduates in 1977 he is hired to be the first full-time Sports Information Director at NKU.
Over the course of his career Rick eyewitnesses so much history at NKU and he shares some of those stories.
He talks about when Regents Hall opens it was not only the home of the basketball and volleyball programs but they also held concerts performed by national acts including Sly and The Family Stone.
Rick was there to watch Bill Aker build the baseball doing everything from building the field to recruiting players out of the student lounge.
NKU was one of the first state colleges to offer full scholarships for women athletes. This lead to early and long standing success including being the first women’s basketball team to win a game at Rupp Arena against the University of Kentucky.
In 1978, the men’s basketball team coached by Mote Hils defeated Xavier for the first of two consecutive wins against the Musketeers and it puts NKU athletes on the map.
Thanks in part to the win against Xavier, NKU was its first trip to the NCAA Division-II tournament. Unfortunately, the athletic director at the time Lonnie Davis turns down the opportunity for NKU to host the Great Lakes Regional. Head Coach Mote Hils was less than happy and he has a legendary interaction with his boss that Rick was in person to witness.
In 1981 a major budget cut forces NKU to leave the NCAA and go NAIA. In fact, there was discussions to actual shut down the athletic department entirely. Rick was there and describes how that all happened as well as NKU returning to the NCAA as a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
Jane Meier is hired as the athletic director at NKU after at one time or another coaching women’s basketball, volleyball and softball.
By the 1990’s, Rick becomes the SID for the Great Lakes Valley Conference and the league becomes a dominant force in men’s basketball including NKU making back-to-back appearances in the Divsion-II national championship game.
Rick was also working at NKU during the failed attempt to start a football program which was a very polarizing subject on campus.
The conversation goes back to men’s basketball and Rick explains the transition in the late 1980s from head coach Mike Beitzel to Kenney Shields.
Coach Shields led the Norse on an amazing run where the Norse are national runners-up in back-to-back seasons. Nancy Winstel follows that win a national championship victory for the women’s program in 2000.
After he retires as a sports information director Rick takes a job as the Director of Media Relations for NKU and that turns into the Vice President of Marketing and Communications position.
In 2015, Rick is inducted into the David Lee Holt NKU Hall of Fame and follows that in 2016 with his induction into the Great Lakes Valley Conference Hall of Fame.
As we start to wrap up we talk about NKU’s transition into Division-I and it’s success in men’s basketball and the building of the arena.
Since his retirement from NKU, Rick continues to continue his streak of 49 seasons working during game day for the basketball programs. In recent years he has added Thomas More, Xavier and the Cincinnati Bengals to his list teams that he works for in a support staff role.
Rick says his greatest moment associated with NKU is being with Kenney Shields the night NKU wins the Horizon League tournament in 2017 earning its first ever trip to the NCAA tournament.
You can follow Brady Laber on Twitter @BradyLaber1 (https://twitter.com/BradyLaber1) please use the hashtag #NobodysSafe
Check out the Nobody’s Safe website at nobodysssafe.fireside.fm (https://nobodysssafe.fireside.fm)
For more information on Stove Leg Media go the website StoveLeg.com (https://www.stoveleg.com) or send an email to [email protected]
Intro music for the podcast was provided by bensoud.com (https://www.bensound.com)

Rick went to school at St. Thomas High School in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. There was a teacher and coach there that gave Rick his first break and turned out to be a life long mentor. That man was future NKU men’s basketball coach Kenney Shields.

Rick also attended high school with another future NKU coach Nancy Winstel. Nancy was a standout volleyball player and went on to be a three-sports athlete at NKU as well as a Hall of Fame coach.

Rick began as a student at Northern Kentucky State College in 1972 which was the second year of the athletic department’s existence. Thanks to Kenney Shields, Rick became at stats person for head coach Mote Hils whom Kenney played for at Covington Catholic High School.

While in college Rick is hired as writer and reporter for the Cincinnati Enquirer and covers a number a great sporting events during his time with the paper.

When Rick graduates in 1977 he is hired to be the first full-time Sports Information Director at NKU.

Over the course of his career Rick eyewitnesses so much history at NKU and he shares some of those stories.

He talks about when Regents Hall opens it was not only the home of the basketball and volleyball programs but they also held concerts performed by national acts including Sly and The Family Stone.

Rick was there to watch Bill Aker build the baseball doing everything from building the field to recruiting players out of the student lounge.

NKU was one of the first state colleges to offer full scholarships for women athletes. This lead to early and long standing success including being the first women’s basketball team to win a game at Rupp Arena against the University of Kentucky.

In 1978, the men’s basketball team coached by Mote Hils defeated Xavier for the first of two consecutive wins against the Musketeers and it puts NKU athletes on the map.

Thanks in part to the win against Xavier, NKU was its first trip to the NCAA Division-II tournament. Unfortunately, the athletic director at the time Lonnie Davis turns down the opportunity for NKU to host the Great Lakes Regional. Head Coach Mote Hils was less than happy and he has a legendary interaction with his boss that Rick was in person to witness.

In 1981 a major budget cut forces NKU to leave the NCAA and go NAIA. In fact, there was discussions to actual shut down the athletic department entirely. Rick was there and describes how that all happened as well as NKU returning to the NCAA as a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

Jane Meier is hired as the athletic director at NKU after at one time or another coaching women’s basketball, volleyball and softball.

By the 1990’s, Rick becomes the SID for the Great Lakes Valley Conference and the league becomes a dominant force in men’s basketball including NKU making back-to-back appearances in the Divsion-II national championship game.

Rick was also working at NKU during the failed attempt to start a football program which was a very polarizing subject on campus.

The conversation goes back to men’s basketball and Rick explains the transition in the late 1980s from head coach Mike Beitzel to Kenney Shields.

Coach Shields led the Norse on an amazing run where the Norse are national runners-up in back-to-back seasons. Nancy Winstel follows that win a national championship victory for the women’s program in 2000.

After he retires as a sports information director Rick takes a job as the Director of Media Relations for NKU and that turns into the Vice President of Marketing and Communications position.

In 2015, Rick is inducted into the David Lee Holt NKU Hall of Fame and follows that in 2016 with his induction into the Great Lakes Valley Conference Hall of Fame.

As we start to wrap up we talk about NKU’s transition into Division-I and it’s success in men’s basketball and the building of the arena.

Since his retirement from NKU, Rick continues to continue his streak of 49 seasons working during game day for the basketball programs. In recent years he has added Thomas More, Xavier and the Cincinnati Bengals to his list teams that he works for in a support staff role.

Rick says his greatest moment associated with NKU is being with Kenney Shields the night NKU wins the Horizon League tournament in 2017 earning its first ever trip to the NCAA tournament.

You can follow Brady Laber on Twitter @BradyLaber1 please use the hashtag #NobodysSafe

Check out the Nobody’s Safe website at nobodysssafe.fireside.fm

For more information on Stove Leg Media go the website StoveLeg.com or send an email to [email protected]

Intro music for the podcast was provided by bensoud.com