Don "Monk" Meineke (October 30, 1930 – September 3, 2013) was an American basketball player. He played college basketball for the University of Dayton and was a consensus second-team All-American in 1952. He later played professionally in the National Basketball Association and won the inaugural Rookie of the Year award in 1953. College career Meineke averaged 20.6 points as a junior for the Dayton Flyers, carrying the team to an NIT runner-up finish in 1951. He averaged 21.1 points per game as a senior and led the team to another second-place finish in the NIT in 1952. Meineke was an AP second-team All-American selection after his senior year. Professional career Meineke received the National Basketball Association's first Rookie of the Year Award after the 1952–53 NBA season while playing for the Fort Wayne Pistons. He led the league in personal fouls and disqualifications the same season. The 26 disqualifications he had in his first year is still the NBA single-season record. His 334 personal fouls in only 68 games gave him an average of more than 4.9 fouls per game. Meineke played for the Rochester Royals in the 1955–56 season, and after sitting out the 1956–57 season, rejoined the relocated Cincinnati Royals in 1957–58. Personal life Meineke was married to Mary Jane (Hautman) and with her had four children. NBA career statistics Regular season {| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" !Year !Team !GP !MPG !FG% !FT% !RPG !APG !PPG |- | style="text-align:left;" |1952–53 | style="text-align:left;" |Fort Wayne |68 |33.1 |.381 |.783 |6.9 |2.2 |10.7 |- | style="text-align:left;" |1953–54 | style="text-align:left;" |Fort Wayne |71 |20.9 |.344 |.805 |5.2 |1.1 |5.7 |- | style="text-align:left;" |1954–55 | style="text-align:left;" |Fort Wayne |68 |15.1 |.372 |.700 |3.6 |0.9 |5.8 |- | style="text-align:left;" |1955–56 | style="text-align:left;" |Rochester |69 |18.1 |.372 |.700 |3.6 |1.5 |7.1 |- | style="text-align:left;" |1957–58 | style="text-align:left;" |Cincinnati |67 |11.8 |.356 |.647 |3.4 |0.6 |4.9 |- class="sortbottom" | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |Career |343 |19.8 |.367 |.756 |4.7 |1.3 |6.8 Playoffs References External links Where Are They Now- Don Meineke @ nbrpa.com Career stats at basketball-reference.com 1930 births 2013 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Dayton, Ohio Centers (basketball) Cincinnati Royals players Dayton Flyers men's basketball players Fort Wayne Pistons draft picks Fort Wayne Pistons players Power forwards (basketball) Rochester Royals players