Rick Majerus

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Rick Majerus (born February 17, 1948 in Sheboygan , Wisconsin , † December 1, 2012 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American basketball coach . He served as the head coach at Marquette University , Ball State University , the University of Utah and Saint Louis University between 1987 and 2012 . With the Runnin 'Utes of the University of Utah he reached eleven times in 15 seasons in the NCAA Division I Basketball Championship , including the 1998 championship finals. He also won a total of eleven conference championships in the Mid-American Conference , the Western Athletic Conference and the Mountain West Conference . UPI news agency and Basketball Times magazine voted him National Coach of the Year in 1991 .

Life

Rick Majerus was born in 1948 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin and graduated in 1970 to study history at Marquette University from. He then worked at the university from 1971 to 1983 as an assistant coach and from 1983 to 1986 as head coach of the basketball team of the Marquette Golden Eagles . He then acted in the years 1986/1987 as assistant coach of the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA , before he took over from 1987 to 1989 as head coach of the basketball team at Ball State University .

From there he moved to the University of Utah and worked there from 1989 until his resignation for health reasons in January 2004 as head coach of the Runnin 'Utes . His players during this time included Keith Van Horn and Andre Miller . In December 2004 he signed a contract as head coach of the USC Trojans at the University of Southern California . Just five days later, however, he resigned from this obligation, again stating health reasons. He then worked as a commentator for the sports broadcaster ESPN until 2007 , before he took over the position of head coach at Saint Louis University in the same year . One year before the end of his contract, he retired from this position in August 2012 due to health problems.

Rick Majerus was married in 1987 but divorced two years later and had no children. In December 2012, he died in a Los Angeles hospital awaiting a heart transplant as a result of a long-standing heart disease.

Sporting successes

Rick Majerus was as assistant coach of the basketball team of the Marquette University in the season 1976/1977 involved in winning the national championship of the NCAA , and took part as head coach with the Marquette Golden Eagles three times in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). With the team of Ball State University he won the championship of the Mid-American Conference in 1989 , in addition, the team reached the second round of the NCAA state championship in the same year.

In the 15 years of his service at the University of Utah, the Runnin 'Utes won a total of ten Conference championship titles in the Western Athletic Conference and in the Mountain West Conference . The team also took part in the state championship eleven times and reached the round of the last 16 teams ( Sweet Sixteen ) in 1991 and 1996 , the round of the best eight teams ( Elite Eight ) in 1997 and the final in 1998, which the team however against the Kentucky Wildcats from the University of Kentucky . In 1992 the team also took third place in the NIT.

Rick Majerus was five times coach of the year in the Western Athletic Conference and in 1991 by the news agency during this time United Press International and the magazine Basketball Times for National Coach of the Year nominated. In addition, he won the gold medal during this time at the 1994 Basketball World Cup as assistant coach of the American national team under Don Nelson .

With the team from Saint Louis University, he reached the third round of the state championship in 2012. Overall, Rick Majerus won 517 games in 215 defeats during his coaching career. In 25 years as basketball head coach at four different universities, he only had one season with a negative balance.

literature

Further publications

  • Gene Wojciechowski, Rick Majerus: My Life On a Napkin: Pillow Mints, Playground Dreams and Coaching the Runnin 'Utes. Hyperion, New York 2000, ISBN 0-7868-8445-2 (autobiography)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Majerus, Rick
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American basketball coach
DATE OF BIRTH February 17, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Sheboygan , Wisconsin
DATE OF DEATH December 1, 2012
Place of death los Angeles