Bio

John Meeks enters his first year as Director of Athletics at Vincennes University, after accepting the role in August of 2024. Meeks comes to Vincennes boasting more than 20 years as an athletic director, college basketball coach, and higher education academician, developing future leaders making an impact after athletics across the globe.

Meeks comes to Vincennes after a highly successful two-year tenure (2022-2024) as Director of Athletics at Big Bend Community College (WA). In just two short years as leader of Viking Athletics, Meeks brought a wealth of outside ideas, knowledge, experience, and energy to a position and program that had seen very little change in a significant amount of time. Highlights of his leadership tenure at Big Bend include negotiation of a five-year, six-figure Under Armour contract, unlike any at similar institutions in Big Bend's geographic footprint; launching of a completely revamped, prospective student-focused website; growth of the department’s social media presence from near non-existent levels to thousands of followers and impressions across multiple platforms; creation of the college’s first true athletic fundraising entity, growing its monetary generation well into six figures annually; direction of numerous facility improvements department-wide, funded solely through fundraising and grant-writing efforts; development of a robust Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) program; establishing and deeply funding a scholarship for female, minority, first-generation student-athletes; and renewing monthly athletic community service efforts, highlighted by an annual serve day involving entities campus-wide.

Before Big Bend, Meeks boasted a significant athletic resume, most recently served as the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA)-member Wallace State Community College (AL). In nine years at Wallace State, Meeks won five championships while priding himself on graduating players and directing young men to develop and mature off the court. It was these on and off-the-court successes that propelled Meeks to be elected to the NJCAA Men's Basketball Coaches Association Board, as voted on by his peers. Meeks ultimately served three seasons on the board, while also directing the Physical Education department at Davidson-Davie Community College (NC).

Prior to his time at Wallace State, Meeks held the same position at Louisburg College (NC) for two seasons, compiling an overall record of 51-15. Meeks also spent six total seasons as an Assistant Men's Basketball Coach at two institutions, Bluefield College (VA) and Lee University (TN). As an assistant, Meeks helped amass a staggering 150 wins against only 61 losses, while appearing in five National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Tournaments over this six-year span.

As impressive as his teams have been on the court, they have made even more of a mark in the classroom. Meeks boasts a 93% graduation rate amongst all student-athletes he has coached. However, the pinnacle of achievement came after the 2017-2018 season, as the Wallace State Men's Basketball team was named the NJCAA Academic Team of the Year, earning a staggering 3.48 grade point average, tops amongst the more than 400 NJCAA men's basketball teams across the country. The 2018-2019 team followed up with a 3.60 grade point average, to claim the top spot for a second straight year.

Additionally, Meeks' 2015-2016 Wallace State Men's Basketball team still stands as the only NJCAA sport to play sanctioned competition on foreign soil, as they traveled to the Dominican Republic to play, along with serve many of the poorest areas of the country.

Foundational to his programs' success, Meeks credits achievement outside athletics, preparing student-athletes for life after the sport, ensuring that student-athletes entrusted in his care leave his program as better people, well-educated, and prepared to impact the world in unfathomable ways...with the understanding that past circumstances do not dictate, drive, determine, or even deter who they are.

Meeks holds a Master of Education in Physical Education from the University of Houston and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration-Management from Bluefield College. He is married to the former Michelle Jackson, and the couple have two children, Mila (ten) and Grayson (seven). The Meeks family resides in Vincennes.