Tappmeyer was born in Gerald, Missouri, attended East Central Junior College where he played basketball. He was an honorable-mention All-conference as a sophomore. He transferred to Southeast Missouri State University after his sophomore season in 1978. He averaged 16.3 points and was an honorable-mention All-MIAA as a junior.
In the fall of 1988, he was hired as the Northwest Missouri State University head basketball coach. From 1998 to 2008, his teams won 19 or more games. His teams reached the NCAA Division II playoffs in 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008. It was in Elite 8 in 2002 and 2004. His teams won the regular season MIAA in 1998, 2002, 2007 and 2008. They won the MIAA post-season tournament in 1989, 2002, 2004 and 2008. Tappmeyer finished as the school's all-time leader in wins with 408 victories. He won seven MIAA Championships, three regular season titles and four conference tournament titles. He qualified to the NCAA Tournament ten times, with two appearances ending in berths to the Elite Eight.. He had a streak of 11 straight seasons with 19 or more wins and his teams surpassed 22 wins in 9 of his final 12 years. He was a four-time MIAA Coach of the year and the 2001 South Central Region Coach of the Year. His teams had a record of 143 wins and only 25 losses at the school's Bearcat Arena during his final 12 seasons. Additionally, he also was the head tennis coach at Northwest for a brief time. In 2014, he was inducted into the Northwest Missouri State M-Club Hall of Fame. In 2017, he was inducted into the MIAA Hall of Fame.
Year
W
L
MIAA Reg Season
MIAA Tournament
Post Season
1989
21
9
#
1990
14
13
1991
12
15
1992
16
12
1993
14
13
1994
18
10
1995
13
14
1996
19
7
1997
11
16
1998
23
7
*
Playoffs
1999
19
10
2000
22
8
Playoffs
2001
25
6
Playoffs
2002
29
3
*
#
Semifinals
2003
22
9
Playoffs
2004
29
5
#
Semifinals
2005
19
11
2006
22
10
Quarterfinals
2007
24
7
*
Playoffs
2008
24
8
*
#
Playoffs
2009
12
15
University of Missouri-St. Louis
Tappmeyer was the basketball head coach at the University of Missouri-St. Louis from 2010 to 2013. In 2010-11, the team posted a 16-11 overall record, including a 10-8 Great Lakes Valley Conference record, the first winning GLVC mark in program history. In 2011-12, he coached the school to a 19-9 record, its most wins since the 1990-91 campaign. The team finished with a 13-5 Great Lakes Valley Conference record, while winning the West Division title. The school began the league schedule 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. Tappmeyer also guided USML to their first-ever GLVC Tournament victory, a 71-60 win against Drury in the quarterfinals. He was named Co-GLVC Coach of the Year and the NABC Co-Midwest Region Coach of the Year. In 2012-13, he finished with a 17-10 overall record, including a 10-8 Great Lakes Valley Conference record. On April 23, 2013, he announced his resignation, due to what he called burnout. He accomplished a winning season in each of his three campaigns, which had not been done in the school since the first four years of the basketball program existence. He posted a 52-30 overall record at UMSL. In 2012-13, the team finished with a 17-10 overall record, including a 10-8 Great Lakes Valley Conference record. In 24 years as a Division II basketball head coach, he had a 460-238 overall record.
Tappmeyer, moved to Owensville, Missouri to help take care of an ailing family member. From 2013 to 2014, he was the Athletic Director at Owensville High School. In 2015-16, he guided the girls basketball team to a Class 4 third-place finish, before announcing his retirement at the end of the season.
In 2020 Tappmeyer came out of retirement to be an assistant coach for the Maryville Saints at Maryville University in suburban St. Louis. The head coach for the team is Jesse Shaw who had been a player for Tappmeyer 2001-2005 at Northwest Missouri during Tappmeyer's most successful stint at the university when his teams twice made it to the Elite 8.
