Former Pack star takes H.S. coaching job
by Zack Hall, Outpost Staff
By spending five years of tutelage in the Nevada basketball program, Carissa Meyer increased her already pertinent basketball knowledge. Starting next fall, Meyer will be giving that knowledge back to her alma mater.
Last week Meyer, who played her final game for the Wolf Pack in the team's loss to UC Santa Barbara in the Big West Tournament earlier this year, accepted the head coaching position at her former school, Bishop Manogue High, last week.
"There is a lot of loyalty there," Meyer said. "I bleed green and gold."
Starting next season, Meyer will return to the same place where she was named as an all-league player in three of her four years, twice named to the Nevada all-state team, twice was named the league MVP, and was named the Nevada State AA Player of the Year in 1994. She also graduated as the valedictorian of her class in 1994.
Meyer graduated from Nevada in 1998 with a degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology. In addition to her coaching requirements next season, Meyer will also continue working towards her masters degree at Nevada.
"I was definitely excited and overwhelmed at the same time," Meyer said. "With my graduate work and thesis to do next year, I will have a lot of things to juggle.
"There were some tense moments for a while, wondering if I should accept the position with so much else going on in my life right now, but I have calmed down quite a bit after having a couple of weeks to think about it."
Meyer's interest was piqued when she heard about the vacant coaching position at Manogue, but she began actively pursuing the job only two months ago. Even if she was not hired by her former school, Meyer knew that she was not through with the roundball.
"I knew that I wanted to do something with basketball," Meyer said. "The position came up at an opportune time. If the job fell through, I would have probably concentrated on my graduate work. I have some connections with old high school coaches in the Reno area, and I believe that I could have landed a position helping them out."
Meyer's career as a member of the Pack was filled with accolades. As a freshman during the 1994-95 season, the 5-9 guard, who was the Pack's starting point guard for the entire season, was one of two players on the Nevada roster to receive All-Conference honors.
Following a one year layoff while recovering from an ankle injury, Meyer was returned to the Pack and played the role of the spark-plug coming off the bench. Meyer played minutes in 24 of the Pack's 26 contests, including getting the starting nod six times.
The ensuing season saw the Nevada star be named the 1997-98 Big West Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year. Meyer saw action in each of her squad's 28 games, and led the Pack in assists, averaging 3.2 per contest.
Meyer plans to employ many of the tactics learned from past coaches as the head coach of Manogue. Throughout her years involved with women's hoops and playing under as many coaches as she did, Meyer has learned to work with different types of people and players, time management, and teach impressionable young minds to act responsibly and display well roundedness both on and off the court.
Pack assistant coach Paul Nixon, who works specifically with the teams guards and worked with Meyer in practice for the past two years, says that she demonstrated every quality needed to flourish in the coaching ranks.
"There are four specific qualities that every successful head coach has," Nixon said. "Carissa displays a love for the game, she exhibits a tremendous work ethic, she has shown a vast knowledge of the game of basketball, and most importantly, Carissa is a good communicator. Knowledge is irrelevant if you are not able to communicate it to the players that you deal with.
"As a coach, I like to see others in my profession who are quality people. Seeing Carissa take the job at Manogue and join the coaching ranks, I know that the school is getting the kind of coach who will continue the tradition of the sport over there."
Nu-Gina Rogers, who has been an assistant coach with the Pack for the past two seasons, has also seen Meyer display certain characteristics that will help her to succeed in head coaching.
"Carissa is a competitor from a basketball standpoint," Rogers said. "She has the virtue of patience. I do not know the players in the program over at Manogue, but Carissa will be able to work well with the kids. Any player that has been in (Pack head coach Ada Gee's) system, especially Carissa who has been under the system for 5 years, has learned the assets of accountability and game preparation."
Posted May 4, 1999
Copyright 1999 Nevada Outpost
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