{{Short description|Basketball player (1959–2008)}} {{Infobox basketball biography | name = Joe Merten | image = | number = | position = Small forward | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 7 | weight_lb = | league = | birth_date = {{birth date|1959|2|23}} | birth_place = Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2008|3|18|1959|2|23}} | death_place = Eau Claire, Wisconsin, U.S. | high_school = George Nelson Tremper<br/>(Kenosha, Wisconsin) | college = Wisconsin–Eau Claire (1977–1981) | draft_year = 1981 | draft_round = 10 | draft_pick = 207 | draft_team = Utah Jazz | career_start = 1981 | career_end = 1985 | years1 = 1982–1983 | team1 = Alberta Dusters | years2 = 1983 | team2 = Las Vegas Silvers | years3 = 1983–1985 | team3 = Wisconsin Flyers | cyears1 = 1985–1986 | cteam1 = Wisconsin Flyers | highlights = *CBA All-Star (1982) *3× All-WSUAC (1979–1981) | medal_templates = {{MedalGold | 1979 World University Games|Team}} }} '''Joseph H. Merten''' (February 23, 1959 – March 19, 2008) was an American basketball player and coach. He played small forward and his listed height was {{convert|6|ft|7|inch|m}}.
==Biography== Merten attended the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire from 1977 to 1981 and played for head coach Ken Anderson's Blugolds men's basketball team. Merten played in 113 games (93 of which he started) for the Blugolds, who appeared in the NAIA Final Four during his final two seasons (1980, 1981). During his four years with the Blugolds, Merten accumulated 1,193 points, 598 rebounds and 439 assists. He named to the All-Wisconsin State University Athletic Conference Team three times.<ref name="hof">{{cite web|title=Blugold Hall of Fame; Joe Merten|url=http://www.uwecblugolds.com/content/hof.php?view=hof&inductee=111&person=3119&type=A|website=uwecblugolds.com|publisher=University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire|accessdate=5 February 2017}}</ref>
In 1979 Merten was a member of the United States men's national basketball team at the World University Games. The team, which featured future NBA player Kevin McHale, won a gold medal.<ref name="hof"/>
He was drafted in the 10{{sup|th}} round of the 1981 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz and played for their Summer Pro League team, but failed to make the preseason roster.<ref>{{cite news|title=NBA Draft|work=United Press International|date=June 9, 1981}}</ref> He played exhibition games with the Milwaukee Bucks during the 1981 NBA preseason, but was cut from their regular season roster.<ref>{{cite news|title=Untitled|work=United Press International|date=October 12, 1982}}</ref> He made two unsuccessful NBA tryouts during the summer of 1982 with the Bucks and Indiana Pacers.<ref>{{cite news|title=Thursday's Sports Transactions|work=United Press International|date=July 30, 1982}}</ref><ref name="hof"/>
In 1981 Merten signed with the Alberta Dusters of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). On January 20, 1982, Merten scored 42 points in a game.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Buckli|first1=Ron|title=January Flashback: Dvoracek scores 43 to carry Regis|work=McClatchy Tribune|date=January 29, 2012|location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref> He appeared in the 1982 CBA All-Star game as a member of the Dusters. Merten signed with the Las Vegas Silvers in 1982, but was traded during the season to the Wisconsin Flyers. He was named head coach of the Flyers before the 1985–86 season. He was the youngest coach in the CBA at the time of his hiring.<ref name="hof"/>
Merten was offered the head coaching position of the Flyers for the 1986–87 season but turned down the offer. He went to work for Menards in Eau Claire as a building materials manager.<ref name="hof"/>
There is an annual award known as the Joe Merten Coaching Award given out by the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire Blugold Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite news|title=Blugold Hall of Fame inducts seven athletes in the class of 2016|work=UWire|publisher=ULoop|date=October 4, 2016|location=Eau Claire, Wisconsin|page=1}}</ref> It was created by Merten's family following his death on March 19, 2008. The award is given to an assistant coach, community coach, or student coach on a Blugolds sports team.<ref>{{cite web|title=Joe Merten Coaching Award|url=http://www.blugolds.com/general/history/award-merten|website=blugolds.com|publisher=University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire|accessdate=5 February 2017}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merten, Joe}} Category:1958 births Category:2008 deaths Category:American men's basketball players Category:Alberta Dusters players Category:Basketball coaches from Wisconsin Category:Basketball players from Wisconsin Category:Continental Basketball Association coaches Category:Las Vegas Silvers players Category:Small forwards Category:Sportspeople from Kenosha, Wisconsin Category:FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States Category:Summer World University Games medalists in basketball Category:Utah Jazz draft picks Category:Wisconsin–Eau Claire Blugolds men's basketball players Category:Wisconsin Flyers players Category:Medalists at the 1979 Summer Universiade Category:20th-century American sportsmen