Rick Majerus

AkbarClone

CBS Sports is saying multiple sources claim Rick Majerus died today. I guess if officially announced, we will be able to read about it on the Cards and Memorabila forum. Condolences to his family if true.

larryallen73

He was not a picture of good health. RIP.

Dboneesq

THIS IS WHAT I JUST READ

9:39PM EST December 1. 2012 - Rick Majerus, who won more than 70 percent of his games as a men's college basketball coach and took Utah to the 1998 national championship game, died Saturday at age 64.

Majerus' girlfriend, Angie Kvidera, confirmed to USA TODAY Sports that Majerus died Saturday in Los Angeles.

The final on-court chapter in Majerus' career was a fitting one: a 65-61 loss in a taut chess match against another of the sport's great bench coaches, Michigan State's Tom Izzo, in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Majerus concluded a 25-year head coaching career – which included stops at his alma mater Marquette, Ball State, Utah and Saint Louis – with a 517-215 record. He reached the NCAA tournament 12 times, most notably leading Utah to the 1998 national title game before losing to Kentucky. Last season he took the Billikens to the NCAAs for the first time in 12 years.

He was an exceptional basketball mind and a teacher of the game who learned as a student assistant and later full-time assistant under the legendary Al McGuire. But his personality was far more complicated. He was alienating to some but the first person to reach out when a former player lost a loved one. And he took time off from coaching at one point to tend to his ill mother.

One of the episodes that best encapsulated what often appeared like a man conflicted was his pursuit of the USC head coaching job in 2004. That December, upon accepting the job, he was euphoric, saying during his introductory news conference, "I hope I die here. I hope I coach here the rest of my life."

Los Angeles media dubbed him a unique additional to a West Coast locale already with its share of quirky eccentrics in entertainment and sports. Bill Dwyre of The Los Angeles Times wrote that Majerus would have been "a John Belushi of jockstraps."

But a career at USC never materialized. Within a week, Majerus reneged on his commitment and returned to ESPN as an analyst after an emotional news conference in which he said he was "in denial where my health actually is … I realized (USC) was not getting the guy they hired. I came to that conclusion myself. I am not fit for this job by my standards."

Majerus accepted the Saint Louis job in April 2007, won 95 games in four seasons and had the school poised for poised for perhaps its best season under Majerus this year.

But on Aug. 24, Saint Louis issued a 610-word press release stating that Majerus would miss the entire 2012-13 season because of heart issues. Over the following weeks, word spread among coaches throughout college basketball that Majerus' situation was grave and that not only would he never coach again but that his life was in danger.

Majerus remained in California receiving treatment for a serious heart condition. Details of the condition were not made public, and even those involved in the Saint Louis basketball program are unaware of the type and extent of heart condition Majerus has.

And on Nov. 16 Saint Louis announced what many in college basketball felt was an inevitability: Majerus' career at Saint Louis was over.

EDITED TO ADD: MAY HE REST IN PEACE

Brick

RIP.

Goodsport40

RIP to a very fine coach and by all accounts a fine man.

Robert