Adam Meyer has been named Washington High School’s new varsity girls basketball coach. The hire was approved by the Board of Education on Wednesday, July 27.
Meyer replaces Doug Light, who retired following the 2021-22 school year.
Meyer, a physical education teacher at South Point Elementary, previously served as the junior varsity boys basketball coach at Washington High School. The upcoming school year will be his 10th year with the School District of Washington. He has worked at South Point as the PE teacher and served as the JV boys basketball coach at WHS for his entire time in the district.
“I’m super excited. I haven’t been this excited in a long time. Talking to Coach Light and Coach (Grant) Young, taking over the girls program was something that certainly was possible down the road. It’s just happening sooner than I expected,” Meyer said. “After working the girls camp earlier this summer, I told my wife that it would be unbelievable to coach these kids one day. I feel very blessed to get this opportunity.”
“We are excited to announce that Adam Meyer will be leading our girls basketball program into the future. He has been an integral part of our boys basketball program for many years and we look forward to him leading our girls program,” said Washington High School Activities Director Bill Deckelman. “He has established great relationships with the male athletes in the basketball program and we look forward to him doing the same in our girls program.”
Meyer is a 1998 graduate of Borgia High School, where he was a standout basketball and football player. A four-year varsity basketball player at Borgia, Meyer led the Knights to a state championship during his senior year. He also played in the Final Four during his freshman season.
Meyer went on the play football at Truman State University in Kirksville, where he was a safety. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Physiology. He earned his Master's Degree at Lindenwood University in Sports Management. It was at Lindenwood where he became interested in teaching and coaching.
Meyer got his first teaching and coaching job at Montgomery County High School, where he spent eight years coaching basketball and football, and two years coaching baseball. He was the head boys basketball coach for six years. He then came to Washington High School, where he’s been the junior varsity boys basketball coach for the last nine years.
“Coach Young and I came to Washington at the same time. He’s been the varsity coach and I’ve been the junior varsity coach,” Meyer said. “Coach (Bill) Juengel later joined our staff and we’ve had a great dynamic over the last few years. I’ve learned a lot from both of them.”
Meyer is eager to get started with the girls basketball program at WHS. He’s hosting a meet and greet event, where players and coaches can get to know each other, on Tuesday, August 2, at 6 p.m. in the Blue Jay Gymnasium. All current and future girls basketball players, and their parents, are invited.
“I’m looking forward to meeting the girls and getting to know them,” Meyer said. “The high school kids we have now, from what I’ve seen, are excited about where the program is and are willing to work hard to make the program the best that it can be. I’ll bring some new ideas and a lot of energy to the program. Hopefully that energy will carry over to the girls. We have some talented girls coming back to the varsity team and some younger players coming up. There’s talent spread out throughout the younger classes, which hopefully will allow us to compete well for years to come.”
Washington’s assistant coaches are expected to return. The staff consists of varsity assistants Nicole Desmond and Chad Briggs, junior varsity coach Sarah Sever, and freshman coach Lee Engemann. Meyer and Colin Flynn will be the middle school coaches.
“We have a lot of good people in our program. I want every level to do well and have success,” Meyer said. “I plan on being here a while and I want to build a winning culture throughout the program.”
Adam and his wife, Nikki, have two daughters. Nola is entering seventh grade at Washington Middle School. Maelyn is entering fourth grade at South Point Elementary.
“Both of my daughters play basketball and love basketball,” Meyer said. “Hopefully both of them will play for me one day at Washington High School.”
Adam Meyer