Meanwell, "Doc" (Walter E.)
Basketball
b. Jan. 26, 1884, Leeds, England
d. Dec. 2, 1953
Meanwell's only serious basketball experience was with the Rochester, NY, Athletic Club, but he became an innovative and very successful college coach. He received an M. D. from the University of Maryland in 1909. Because of his interest in health through physical training, he became Baltimore's supervisor of recreation and coached a team in the Baltimore Public Athletic League.
At the University of Wisconsin in 1912-13, Meanwell developed one of the sport's first continuity offenses, the "criss cross," which featured players constantly cutting through the foul lane from one side and the other. The offense emphasized short passes, which was very unorthodox at the time. His Wisconsin teams won 29 consecutive games during one period.
After receiving a doctorate in public health from Wisconsin, Meanwell served in the Army Medical Corps during World War I and then coached at the University of Missouri for two seasons, winning Missouri Valley Conference championships both years. He returned to Wisconsin in 1920 and coached there for another fourteen years, also serving as the school's athletic director from 1933 to 1935. His overall record was 290 wins and 101 losses.
Meanwell coached two future Hall of Famers, "Bud" Foster and Harold Olson. He helped to develop the modern, laceless basketball with a hidden valve and, with Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne, he wrote Training, Conditioning, and the Care of the Injuries, one of the first books of its kind.