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RICK MAJERUS
UTAH BASKETBALL LEADER
Nine years under head coach Rick Majerus has entrenched the University of Utah in the nation’s basketball power structure. Majerus, the winningest Utah basketball coach in modern times (210-59, .781 winning percentage), has led the Utes to unprecedented success. That fact was crystallized when Majerus led his 1997-98 Utes to the NCAA Championship game. In the 89-year history of Utah basketball, the Utes have never enjoyed a nine-year stretch like the Majerus tenure.
Despite the fact Majerus coached just six games in his first season, due to heart surgery, his clubs have averaged 23 wins per year during that time. His seven post-season appearances (six NCAA) is a school coaching benchmark. Never before has a Ute team advanced to the Sweet 16 four times in a seven-year span. Majerus’ teams own six Western Athletic Conference championships, including the last four (this year’s was a Mountain Division title)- a feat never before achieved at Utah. In 1996-97, his Utes captured both the Mountain Division crown and the WAC Tournament title. This year, Utah repeated as the WAC Mountain Division champion with a 12-2 record.
Majerus’ success goes far beyond the conference level. in six trips to the NCAA as Utah’s coach, he has yet to lose a first round game. Utah, Kentucky and Arizona are the only teams to make the Sweet Sixteen in each of the last three years. For the second straight year, Majerus led his team into the Elite Eight. For the last two years, his teams have taken up permanent residence in the Top-10. He coached this year’s team to Utah’s first Final Four berth in 22 years. Actually, it is his second “Final Four” of some sort at Utah. In 1992, Utah made the Final Four of the National invitational Tournament.
In terms of wins and losses, Majerus has few peers. His .736 winning percentage is 13th among the active NCAA coaches and ranks 27th all-time. In 1990-91, Majerus’ first full season as Utah’s head coach, he simply led the Utes to the best record in school history (30-4). A mark the 1997-98 bunch equaled. Take away his heart surgery shortened debut season and Majerus has averaged 26 wins per season in the last eight years! Majerus’ feats have earned him national recognition and respect. The three-time WAC Coach of the Year was tapped for national honors in 1991 (Basketball Times’ and UPI Coach of the Year) and 1992 (Playboy Coach of the Year). He received Playboy National Coach of the Year honors again in 1998. He is also a six-time District Coach of the Year.
In a previous two-year stint with Ball State, Majerus received The Hoop Scoop Coach of the Year honors in 1988-89/ Most recently, the WAC media voted him Mountain Division Coach of the Year in 1996-97. He also was voted the John Wooden National Coach of the Year for 1997-98 by the Utah Tip Off Club. Success has followed Majerus at all of his stops. his head coaching career began at Marquette, where he complied a 56-35 record from 1983-86 and took his teams to the NIT Tournaments. He preceded his Utah Tenure with a successful two-year stint at Ball State, where he logged a 43-17 mark, including a 29-3 record and an NCAA 2nd Round berth in 1988-89. he was an accomplished assistant coach before making the jump to top seat.
In 12 years as an assistant at Marquette (1972-83), Majerus was part of 11 NCAA Tournament teams. Marquette won the NCAA Championship in 1976-77. The veteran coach also spent a year in the National Basketball Association as an assistant to Don Nelson. The Milwaukee Bucks posted a 50-32 record and made the NBA playoffs during Majerus’ year on the bench (1986-87). Majerus has an international resume as well. He served during the summer of 1997 as the head coach of the USA Basketball Men’s 22 and under team that will compete in the World Championships this August in Melbourne, Australia. He spent the summer of 1994 as an assistant coach to Don Nelson for the USA “Dream Team 2”, which featured the top NBA players in the Men’s World Basketball Championships in Toronto. Majerus’ reach extends into the classroom.
In his time at Utah, 86 players have made the honor roll, including nine winter quarter and seven spring quarter. Michael Doleac was named to the 1998 GTE Academic All-America first team, while Drew Hansen made the third team. The Utes were the only school with two players on the 1998 GTE Academic All-America squad. Hansen also won the 1997 Playboy Magazine Anson Mount Scholar/Athlete Award for basketball, was a Rhodes Scholar candidate and a finalist for the Walter Byres Award, the highest academic award given by the NCAA. The 1997-98 Utes racked up an excellent 3.31 team GPA spring quarter. Born on Feb. 17, 1948, the 50-year-old Majerus is a Sheboygan, Wis., native. He graduated from Marquette in 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in history. He received a master’s, also from Marquette, in 1979 in guidance and counseling.
