Meyer family to sell famed hoops haven

DePaul legend's camp for sale

July 07, 2006|By Michael Hirsley, Tribune staff reporter.

Ray Meyer's Basketball Camp once attracted thousands of boys aged 6 to 17, most of whom came 350 miles by train or bus from Chicago.

Now, the Three Lakes, Wis., campsite seeks a buyer. The 35-plus acres of lakeside woods with a five-bedroom home, boat house and 21 basketball hoops is for sale.

Meyer, who died March 17 at 92, is best known as the legendary DePaul basketball coach who was a commanding presence on the hardwood for 42 years until he retired in 1984.

But to many, he is remembered as the coach at his namesake basketball camp. Built on property he found on a fishing trip in 1946, Meyer was a constant presence at camps there until its final summer in 2001.

"Teaching those kids was his favorite thing to do," said Robert Meyer, the youngest of Meyer's six children.

After acquiring the property for $18,000, his father nearly destroyed it shortly thereafter, Meyer recalled.

"He and a priest friend were clearing lumber for a football field and decided it would be easier to burn the wood than to try to haul it away," he said.

"They poured gasoline on the fire. In no time, it was burning out of control with 40-foot-high flames. Both being very religious men, they knelt down and prayed . . . and a rainstorm came and doused the flames."

As a camper and later a counselor at his father's camp, Meyer said that fire story was among "tons of memories of the camp." The siblings and their 33 children and grandchildren "are having some melancholy that this could be the last summer we can go there." He said the decision to sell the property was part of dividing the estate among family members.

Ray Meyer's pioneering camp was so popular that entire high school teams would attend for instruction. Campers included future NBA stars Bob Pettit, Dan Issel and Mark Aguirre. The latter played for Meyer at DePaul, as did Randy Ramsey.

"Coach Meyer and his discipline laid the foundation for my entire life," said Ramsey, a camper and a counselor whose son also went to the camp.

"I used to tell my wife, `When I die, sprinkle my ashes on Coach's camp,'" said Ramsey, who is self-employed in printing and promotions. "Now that the property is for sale, I wish I had the money to buy it."

Whoever does, Robert Meyer said, "will get not only natural beauty but a piece of history."