Don Meyer: The Movie — Judge Reinhold, Tatum O’Neal to star in biopic about famed Lipscomb University basketball coach

Camera crews are filming today on the campus of Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn., for a forthcoming film about the life of longtime basketball coach Don Meyer.

The Tennessean in Nashville reports:

Jerry Meyer is still trying to come to grips with Judge Reinhold playing his dad in a movie that begins filming Tuesday at Lipscomb.

“It’s hard to picture my dad in ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High,'” Jerry said.

Reinhold starred in the teen hit comedy in 1982 when Don Meyer was busy building Lipscomb’s basketball team into an NAIA power.

Meyer went on to become one of the winningest basketball coaches of all time, and the movie with the working title “My Many Sons” will pay tribute to his legacy.

Read the full story.

Tatum O’Neal, who won an Academy Award at age 10 for her role in the 1973 film “Paper Moon,” will play Don Meyer’s wife, Carmen. Casey Bond, who is producing the project, cast himself as Jerry Meyer (though Jerry Meyer told The Tennessean he was hoping to be portrayed by Justin Timberlake).

Meyer coached men’s basketball at Lipscomb from 1975 to 1999 before moving to Aberdeen, S.D., where he spent 11 years coaching at Northern State University. In 2008, he was involved in an accident on a South Dakota highway. During emergency surgery, doctors discovered slow-growing, inoperable cancer in his liver and small intestine. After a six-year battle with cancer, Don Meyer died May 18, 2014. He was 69.

A news release from Lipscomb University, which is associated with Churches of Christ, provides more details:

Cameras are rolling today on the Lipscomb University campus as part of the production of “My Many Sons,” a film about the life of legendary former Bison basketball coach Don Meyer. …

“My Many Sons” depicts the relationships that Meyer forged with his players throughout his career and the impact he had on generations of young people.

“This story is not about wins or records, but rather about Coach’s relationships with players and their families,” said Casey Bond, whose company, Higher Purpose Entertainment, is producing the film. “It’s about how one man took the time to build character in young people, which is something we desperately need in our world today. Coach Meyer made the most of a very difficult situation in his life and ran with it. He took what he learned in life and as a result of the accident. He used every ounce of energy he had to communicate with anyone he came in contact in a remarkable way. There was no sitting on the bench for him.”

Filming is scheduled to take place on the Lipscomb campus from Aug. 12-16. Production will also take place in other locations throughout Nashville and in Aberdeen, S.D., where Meyer was head coach of the Northern State University Wolves men’s basketball team for 11 seasons.