With a resume that includes starting the basketball programs at two different high schools and racking up more than 350 wins in a career that spanned from that 1970s to 2020s, the first coach at both George Jenkins High School and Lake Gibson High School doesn’t have to be humble about his career on the court.

“We never won a state title,” he said. “We got close – we got to regional finals more than a few times. We were always scrappy and undersized on the court. But everyone one of those young men grew to be outstanding men off the court.”

Gary Meyer’s interest in basketball started on courts far away from Central Florida. Born and raised in Louisville, the tall and athletic Meyer couldn’t help but gravitate to the local basketball courts.

“We had courts everywhere, and I was out there all the time,” he said. “There were even courts in the park across from my house.”

With the University of Louisville nearby and the long history of college basketball in the area, you might say that pick-up basketball in the park in Louisville was at a different level.

“Every day, guys like Darrel Griffith and Bobby Turner, who played together in high school, would take to the court,” said Meyer. Both players would go on to the NBA. “After a while, these guys would pick me because I could pass and catch, block off, stuff like that in pickup ball. You wanted to win because you wanted to say on the court.”

While his dreams of playing at home for Louisville never materialized, it was a twist of fate that landed Central Florida the player that would grow into one of the most prolific coaches in Polk County history.

“I had really wanted to play at Louisville, where I grew up. But I just wasn’t big enough and I didn’t have enough of an outside shot,” said Meyer. “But then Stetson offered me a spot – except its roster was full. So I accepted a spot with Florida Southern.”

An athlete on campus just a year after the baseball team had won the national title, winning became contagious. Patterning his play after University of Louisville center Wes Unseld, Meyer immediately enjoyed success on the court.

“Except that Unseld was 6-foot-7-inches, and I’m 6-foot-4-inches,” he said.

Playing for legendary Mocs head coach Jim Jarrett and assistant Bob Paschal, the team had some of its best seasons before joining the Sunshine State Conference in 1975.

“We were the first men’s team to make it to regions,” said Meyer. “And that was right after baseball won their first national championship. It was a good time to be an athlete on campus.”

Graduating from Florida Southern in 1975, Meyer returned home. But when he couldn’t find work in Kentucky, Alan Reed, a teammate from Florida Southern, led him to an opening at nearby Plant City High School. He took a job teaching and coached at Lake Gibson when it opened in 1979.

“I’ve been lucky to have the administration’s support anywhere I’ve coached,” he said. “If there was a problem with a player, we dealt with it. I’d tell my players, you don’t have to be the smartest in the class, but you have to make the class better.”

Polk County soon learned that a Gary Meyer team focused on defense. His teams were so focused on defense that the coaches had “Department of Defense” painted on the wall.

“We celebrated the defensive player of the year, we were so defensive minded – we played man, and stuck with it,” he said. “Every year, we’d start with the idea of working on shooting…but a few weeks later, we’d still be spending more time on defense than offense. So maybe we focused on defense too much. We played a lot of man. A lot of high schools didn’t do that back then.”

Meyer feels blessed not just by the coaching staff that stayed with him most of those years, but also by the players that came back to help out.

“Dave Robbins was with me first,” he said. “Mike Anspaugh joined me at Lake Gibson, and Terrence Cobb and Patrick Smith joined along the way at Jenkins. And then a lot of the players would come back and spend time with the younger guys. Guys like Kenny Davis, Wade Luke, Ted Kennedy, Hosie Grimsley – they’d all come back and lace up. They’d get at it and they all gave more than just their time. Good community guys.”

And then there are the former players that Meyers feels blessed to have coached alongside.

“Marcus Ghent, Steve Guase and Kenny Davis – they’ve all left their mark on Polk County basketball and on me as well,” he said. “When you coach with former players – and learn from them – its special.”

But Meyer did more than just improve basketball at the schools he coached at. What started as a way for a few guys to get some extra time on the court – dubbed The Summer League – not only grew quickly, but became formative for Polk County basketball.

“Started as Lakeland, Jenkins, Auburndale and Plant City, and some mostly older guys,” said Meyer. “John Sinclair was an official who used the league to train younger officials. When he passed, we named the league after him. And it still is today.”

Today, the Summer League not only has multiple locations, but branched off to a Haines City league as well.

“The guys who run it today have done a great job,” he said. “And the community continues to support it.”

And that community support is what Meyer credits the success of Polk County sports.

“From the media to business leaders, we’re really lucky,” he said. “Guys like Bob Georges and Jim Lee,  they continue to give back. It makes Lakeland a better place for all of us.”

Another longtime friend from Florida Southern has been his partner for 25 years, Kim Martin.

“We knew each other at Florida Southern, but reconnected many years later at Jenkins,” he said. “Both Kim and her daughter Kasi have been a big part of the Meyer family for a long time and both have made these past 25 years some of my happiest. And thank you to my brother Jon, mom and dad – they are always with me. ”