Steve Tappmeyer enters his third season as the head men’s basketball coach at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, where he owns a career coaching mark of 424-219 (.660) in 23 seasons. In two seasons with the Tritons, he is 35-20 (.636).
Tappmeyer directed UMSL to a 19-9 record last season, its most wins since the 1990-91 campaign. The Tritons finished with a 13-5 GLVC mark, winning the West Division title. UMSL began the league slate with a 6-0 record for the first time in program history and those six wins were part of a 10-game win streak, the second longest in program history. Additionally, Tappmeyer guided the Tritons to their first-ever GLVC Tournament victory, a 71-60 defeat of Drury in the quarterfinals. For his efforts, he was named the Co-GLVC Coach of the Year as well as the NABC Co-Midwest Region Coach of the Year.
In his first season at the helm, Tappmeyer wasted little time in directing the program in the right direction as the Tritons posted a 16-11 record, including a 10-8 GLVC mark, marking the first winning GLVC record in program history.
Prior to his appointment at UMSL, Tappmeyer coached 21 seasons (1989-2009) at Northwest Missouri State with an overall record of 408-208 (.662). The all-time winningest coach in program history, he directed the Bearcats to 10 NCAA Tournament berths and three regular season and four conference tournament championships.
Tappmeyer’s list of accomplishments includes three Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) championships (1998, 2002, 2007) and four MIAA tournament championships (1989, 2002, 2004, 2008). He took Northwest to the NCAA tournament eight times in his last 10 seasons and 10 times overall. Tappmeyer led the Bearcats to the Elite Eight in both the 2002 and 2004 seasons with records of 29-3 and 29-5, respectively.
He was named Kodak Coach of the Year following his first season at Northwest in 1989. He earned regional coach of the year honors in 2001 and was a four-time conference coach of the year (1989, 1998, 2001, 2007).
Tappmeyer led the Bearcats to nine 20-win seasons in the last 12 years and to10 20-win campaigns overall.
He came to Northwest after three seasons as head coach at East Central College, where he guided the community college program to a 62-32 record and was named the 1986 MCCAC Coach of the Year.
Prior to his stint at East Central, Tappmeyer served as an assistant at Northwest from 1981-85.
Tappmeyer played in the MIAA prior to entering the coaching field. The 1979 graduate of Southeast Missouri State averaged 16.3 points per game as a junior and was an honorable mention All-MIAA selection. He was also an honorable mention all-conference pick at East Central, where he played his freshman and sophomore seasons.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Southeast Missouri State University and a Master’s Degree in education from Drury University.
Tappmeyer is a Gerald, Mo., native. He and his wife, Lynette, have a daughter, Andrea.
