It’s Official

It’s Official: Majerus hired to coach SLU

By Tom Timmermann

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

04/27/2007

Rick Majerus will be introduced as the new SLU men’s basketball coach. (Al Behrman/AP)

In what amounts to a major change in the way St. Louis University is approaching basketball, SLU has hired former Utah coach Rick Majerus to replace Brad Soderberg, who was fired on April 17.

Majerus, one of the most successful coaches in college basketball in recent years, will be introduced at a news conference on Monday at 10 a.m.

Majerus, 59, has been out of coaching since stepping down from Utah in the middle of the 2004 season due to health concerns. Since then, he has been working for ESPN as an analyst, though his name has surfaced with several other job openings.

Majerus first met with Biondi last Saturday, and SLU and Majerus’ agent spent the next five days negotiating. On Friday, Biondi and Majerus met face to face to hammer out the final details. An agreement was reached late afternoon on Friday. Details of Majerus’ contract were not specifically available, but it’s believed he will make around $1 million a year for five years. Soderberg’s salary was around $400,000. The highest-paid coach in the Atlantic 10 had been Sean Miller at Xavier, who makes between $700,000 and $900,000.

“I’m excited about this opportunity,’’ Majerus told the Post-Dispatch on Friday. “Fr. Biondi has put together a terrific package with the arena. I went to a Jesuit school and it’s an honor and a privelege and I hope to be able to share that with other youngsters. I look forward to working with this team. I feel very excited. I think it’s a world class university and I think we can bring the team up to the standards of the university, not that they haven’t been good in the past.”

In the past, SLU has hired assistant coaches or head coaches at smaller schools looking to step up in the world. In Majerus, SLU has hired one of the biggest names in the business, a coach regarded for his basketball acumen, though whose sometimes prickly demeanor has alienated many over the years.

“I am extremely excited about having a person of Rick Majerus’ stature and reputation at the helm of our men’s basketball team. I know that we are now headed to take our men’s basketball team to the next level” Biondi said in a statement. “Rick and I have gotten a chance to know each other over the past week, and I am very impressed with all that he will bring to our men’s basketball program, including his commitment to run a program that we can all be proud of.”

“Rick Majerus is known as one of the most passionate basketball coaches in America, and he has already communicated that passion to all he has met at SLU,” athletics director Cheryl Levick said in a statement.

“Rick is committed to taking our men’s basketball program to the next level, which is what our athletic department and all Billiken fans want. We are also excited about what this means to SLU athletics.”

Majerus was the only coach SLU contacted about the job, and the only one to have an on-campus interview. After meeting with school officials over the weekend, the two sides went into lengthy discussions that have finally reached a conclusion.

Of course, with Majerus, it still might not be over. He took the job at USC in December of 2004, only to change his mind a few days later and say he wasn’t up for the job.

Majerus attended Marquette and played as a walk-on as a freshman in 1967 but he was cut from the team before the following season. He graduated in 1970 and spent the next 12 seasons at the school, first as an assistant to Al McGuire, then to McGuire’s successor, Hank Raymonds.

Majerus replaced Raymonds in 1983 and had a 56-35 record in three seasons as head coach, going to the NIT each season. He was an assistant coach for the NBA Milwaukee Bucks for one season (1986-87) before returning to the college ranks, coaching Ball State for two seasons with a record of 43-17. In his second season at Ball State, his team went 29-3 and reached the NCAA Tournament, where it lost in the first round.

He left Ball State to take the job at Utah, but six games into the season, with his team off to a 4-2 start, he had to leave the team to have heart surgery. Assistant coach Joe Cravens finished the season.

Majerus was back on the sidelines next season as the Utes went 30-4 and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. They finished the season ranked 10th in the nation.

Utah finished third in the NIT the following season and then lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament the year after that. His 1993-94 team went 14-14, his only team not to have a winning record in 15 seasons at Utah.

What followed was a golden era for Utah basketball. His 1994-95 team went 28-6, was ranked 22nd in the nation and got to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In 1995-96, Utah went 27-7, reached the Sweet 16 and was ranked 12th in the final poll. The next season, Utah went 29-4, reached the regional final and was ranked sixth in the final coaches poll.

Majerus’ biggest accomplishment came the following season, when Utah went 30-4 and reached the NCAA final, losing to Kentucky. On the way to the final, Utah beat Arizona and North Carolina.