Walter Meanwell

University of Wisconsin photo

Walter E. Meanwell (January 26, 1884 – December 2, 1953) was an English college men's basketball coach in the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. The Leeds, England native coached in the U.S. for the University of Wisconsin–Madison (1911–17, 1920–34) and the University of Missouri (1918–20) to an overall record of 290–101.

Meanwell became the fourth basketball coach in University of Wisconsin–Madison history in 1911. After earning a doctorate degree in 1915, he was nicknamed "Doc" or "Little Doc" (due to his 5'6" frame). During World War I he served in the US Army. After a two-year stint at University of Missouri, Meanwell was back at Wisconsin. The Badgers won or shared four Big Ten titles under his guidance (1921, 1923–24, 1929). His 1912, 1914, and 1916 Wisconsin teams were retroactively named national champions by the Helms Athletic Foundation and the Premo-Porretta Power Poll. Meanwell taught a style of game that featured short passing, crisscross dribbles and a tight zone defense. In 1934 he retired from coaching and practiced medicine in Madison, Wisconsin, until his death. He was inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 1959.

Head coaching record

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Wisconsin (Big Ten Conference) (1911–1917)
1911–12	Wisconsin	15–0	12–0	1st	Helms National Champions Premo-Porretta National Champions
1912–13	Wisconsin	14–1	11–1	1st
1913–14	Wisconsin	15–0	12–0	1st	Helms National Champions Premo-Porretta National Champions
1914–15	Wisconsin	13–4	8–4	3rd
1915–16	Wisconsin	20–1	11–1	1st	Helms National Champions Premo-Porretta National Champions
1916–17	Wisconsin	15–3	9–3	4th
Wisconsin:		92–9	63–9
Missouri (Missouri Valley Conference) (1917–1920)
1917–18	Missouri	17–1	15–1	1st
1919–20	Missouri	17–1	17–1	1st
Missouri:		34–2	32–2
Wisconsin (Big Ten Conference) (1920–1934)
1920–21	Wisconsin	13–4	8–4	T–1st
1921–22	Wisconsin	14–5	8–4	2nd
1922–23	Wisconsin	12–3	11–1	T–1st
1923–24	Wisconsin	11–5	8–4	T–1st
1924–25	Wisconsin	6–11	3–9	9th
1925–26	Wisconsin	8–9	4–8	T–8th
1926–27	Wisconsin	10–7	7–5	T–4th
1927–28	Wisconsin	13–4	9–3	T–3rd
1928–29	Wisconsin	15–2	10–2	T–1st
1929–30	Wisconsin	15–2	8–2	2nd
1930–31	Wisconsin	8–9	4–8	T–7th
1931–32	Wisconsin	8–10	3–9	T–8th
1932–33	Wisconsin	7–13	4–8	8th
1933–34	Wisconsin	14–6	8–4	T–2nd
Wisconsin:		154–90	95–71
Wisconsin:		246–99	158–80
Total:		280–101
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion