Dalton State College basketball coach Tony Ingle received the Don Meyer Coach of the Year award as the top coach in the NAIA.

DALTON, Ga. — It’s always nice to receive recognition for your efforts, but when an award is attached to a person that you admire greatly, the meaning carries a little extra weight.

Dalton State College basketball coach Tony Ingle recently received the Don Meyer Coach of the Year award, which is presented annually to the top NAIA coach in the nation as selected by the Don Meyer award committee and CollegeInsider.com. 

The award is named for Meyer, a longtime NAIA basketball coach who spent 38 seasons on the sidelines between Hamline University, Lipscomb University and Northern State University. Meyer led Lipscomb to the NAIA national championship in 1986 and compiled a career record of 923-324. He passed away from cancer on May 18, 2014, at 69.

While Ingle didn’t profess to be close friends with Meyer, he acknowledged that the two interacted several times throughout his career either at book signings or at coaching clinics. But what is certain is that Ingle has a high level of admiration for the man and to receive an honor in his name has special meaning.

“To be frank, it brought a tear to my eye,” Ingle said. “We weren’t close, but we had an association through the years. I have so much love and respect for Don Meyer that it really touched me because it carries his name. Everyone knows he was a great coach, but he was a incredible human being. I consider a high honor to be selected as a national coach of the year.”

Dalton State finished the 2016-17 season — Ingle’s fourth as coach of the Roadrunners — with a record of 29-5. The Roadrunners advanced to the quarterfinals of the NAIA Division I Men’s National Championship where they lost to eventual national champion Texas Wesleyan. Dalton State won the NAIA national championship in 2015 in Ingle’s second season.

Prior to launching Dalton State’s four-year program in 2013, Ingle led Kennesaw State to the NCAA Division II national championship and helped transition KSU to the NCAA Division I level. He has coached high school, junior college, NAIA, NCAA Division I and Division II levels throughout his career.

“Coach Ingle has done just about everything in his coaching career,” said CollegeInsider.com co-founder Angela Lento. “He truly is one of the legends of the profession.”

The award committee is a 20-member panel, consisting of 15 current or retired head coaches and five CollegeInsider.com staff members. Current Lipscomb University head coach Casey Alexander is the award committee chairman.