Ann Meyers Drysdale (born Ann Elizabeth Meyers; March 26, 1955) is an American retired basketball player and a sportscaster. She was a standout player in high school, college, the Olympic Games, international tournaments, and at professional levels.

Meyers was the first player to be part of the U.S. national team while still in high school. She was the first woman signed to a four-year college athletic scholarship, at UCLA. She was also the first woman to sign a contract with a National Basketball Association team (the Indiana Pacers), in 1979.

Meyers was president and general manager for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and a vice president for the NBA's Phoenix Suns. She is a vice president for the Phoenix Mercury and a color analyst for the Phoenix Suns television broadcasts. For over 26 years, she served as a network television sports analyst for TNT, ESPN, CBS, and NBC. Meyers is a board member for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, which is named after Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive back Ronnie Lott, and is given annually to college football's Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year. In 1993, Meyers was one of the first women players inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and in the inaugural class at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999. She was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007 and into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.

Early life

Meyers was born on March 26, 1955, the sixth of Patricia and Bob Meyers' 11 children. Her father played guard for Marquette University, then for the Shooting Stars, a professional team in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. One of her brothers, Dave, was an All-American at UCLA and went on to play for the Milwaukee Bucks. She earned thirteen Most Valuable Player awards in high school sports. She led her basketball teams to an 80–5 record. In 1974, Meyers became the first high school student to play for the U.S. national team. Since then, only four Division I players, three female and one male, have done so. As of 2008, she still holds UCLA career records for season steals (125), career steals (403), and career blocked shots (101).

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"

|+ Ann Meyers NCAA statistics

! scope="col" | Year

! scope="col" | Team

! scope="col" |

! scope="col" | Points

! scope="col" |

! scope="col" |

! scope="col" |

! scope="col" |

! scope="col" |

! scope="col" |

! scope="col" |

|-

! scope="row" | 1974–75

| UCLA

| 23 || 422 || .528 || .767 || 8.3 || 5.4 || 5.2 || 1.1 || 18.3

|-

! scope="row" | 1975–76

| UCLA

| 23 || 323 || .426 || .730 || 8.2 || 5.6 || 3.6 || 0.7 || 14.0

|-

! scope="row" | 1976–77

| UCLA

| 22 || 402 || .505 || .828 || 7.3 || 5.0 || 3.5 || 1.3 || 18.3

|-

! scope="row" | 1977–78

| UCLA

| 29 || 538 || .526 || .800 || 9.6 || 6.3 || 4.3 || 1.1 || 18.6

|-

! scope="row" colspan="2" | Career

| 97 || 1,685 || .500 || .785 || 8.4 || 5.6 || 4.2 || 1.0 || 17.4

|}

Olympics and world competition

Meyers was a member of the US team that won the 1975 Pan American Games Gold medal.

After her stint with the Pacers, Meyers finally joined the WBL and signed with the New Jersey Gems. Playing for the Gems, Meyers was the WPBL Co-MVP for the 1979–1980 season. She wore jersey No. 15 for the Gems.

Superstars

Meyers entered the inaugural Women Superstars competition in 1979, finishing fourth, but then went on to win the next three consecutive years: 1980, 1981, and 1982.

She served as an analyst on ESPN's coverage of the WNBA and previously worked for NBC Sports full-time as its lead WNBA analyst from 1997 to 2002. Meyers also worked "Hoop-It-Up" telecasts in 1994 and 1995. Since 1983, she has served as an ESPN analyst for various events including both men's and women's NCAA basketball games.

She also worked as a color analyst for the Indiana Pacers making her the first woman to do game analysis for the team. In 2012, she joined the Phoenix Suns broadcast team as a color analyst. On July 11, 2018, she announced her retirement from the Suns.

Meyers led the U.S. to a silver medal at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal as women's basketball made its Olympic debut, and returned eight years later as an announcer for ABC Sports at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She has since covered a wide variety of sports for major networks in the U.S., including the 1986, 1990 and 1994 Goodwill Games, men's and women's college basketball, and NCAA softball and volleyball.

Meyers served as an analyst for NBC Sports coverage of women's basketball at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics.

Personal life

On November 1, 1986, she married former Los Angeles Dodger Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Don Drysdale, and took the name Ann Meyers Drysdale. It was the first time that a married couple were members of their respective sports' Halls of Fame. They met for the first time at The Superstars set in 1979 where Ann was competing and Don was an announcer. They had three children: sons Don Jr. (DJ) and Darren, and daughter Drew.

Meyers was widowed on July 3, 1993, when Drysdale died of a heart attack in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Meyers resides in Huntington Beach, California.

Honors and Hall of Fame inductions

  • 1978—Winner of the Honda award for basketball
  • When she was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993, it was the first time where a married couple were members of their respective Halls of Fame.
  • In 1994, Meyers was the first woman ever to compete in the Celebrity Golf Association Championship.
  • On January 31, 1995, she attended a ceremony in the gym of her high school, Sonora High School, in La Habra, California, where her player jersey was officially retired, and hung in display
  • She was inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame in 1995.
  • In 1999, Meyers received the Mel Greenberg Media Award, presented by the WBCA.
  • In 2001, Meyers was honored as a Wooden All-Time All-American by the Wooden award.
  • She was a 2003 NCAA Silver Anniversary Awards recipient. She joins William Naulls (1981), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1994), and Bill Walton (1999) as UCLA athletes who have been so honored on the 25th anniversary of a major athletic accomplishment.
  • In 2007, she was enshrined in the FIBA Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural class of 2007. She is 1 of 3 United States citizens, along with male player Bill Russell and coach Dean Smith so honored.
  • In 2025, she was part of the first group of inductees of the Huntington Beach Sports Hall of Fame.
  • Ann has been involved with Special Olympics for more than 30 years and currently serves as a Sports Ambassador for Special Olympics Southern California.

See also

  • List of Silver Anniversary Awards (NCAA) Recipients
  • UCLA Bruins women's basketball
  • Manon Rhéaume, the first woman to play in a game in the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada

Notes

Book sources

Further reading

  • Ann Meyers at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
  • Ann Meyers Drysdale at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame