1. Richard Raymond Majerus was an American basketball coach and TV analyst.
33 Facts About Rick Majerus
1. 2.
Rick Majerus coached at Marquette University, Ball State University, the University of Utah, and Saint Louis University.
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Rick Majerus was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019.
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Rick Majerus was the son of Alyce and Raymond Rick Majerus, a Kohler factory worker and labor leader who was at one time secretary-treasurer of the United Auto Workers.
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Rick Majerus stayed in Milwaukee, attending Marquette University, where he was the first in his family to attend college.
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Rick Majerus tried out as a walk-on in the 1967 season and played for the Marquette freshman team.
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Rick Majerus did not play varsity basketball for Marquette, but stayed on as a student assistant.
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Rick Majerus graduated in 1970 with a bachelor's degree in history.
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In 1971, after graduating from Marquette, Rick Majerus became an assistant coach with the Marquette Warriors, where he remained for 12 years, serving under mentor Al McGuire and Hank Raymonds, before taking over as head coach in 1983.
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Rick Majerus was an assistant under McGuire when the Warriors advanced to the 1974 Final four and won the 1977 NCAA Championship.
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Longtime NBA player and coach Glenn "Doc" Rivers played at Marquette and it was Rick Majerus that gave Rivers his "Doc" nickname.
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In leading the "Runnin Utes" to a 1996 sweet 16 match up against Kentucky, Kentucky Coach Rick Majerus Pitino had given the opinion that Utah should be favored to win the game.
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Rick Majerus led Utah to the Final Four in 1998 NCAA tournament, eventually losing to Kentucky in the National Championship Game after the Utes blew a ten point halftime lead.
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Rick Majerus was greatly affected by the loss, and claimed to be able to recite the last six minutes of play of the championship game second by second.
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Rick Majerus was an assistant coach under Don Nelson for the US national team in the 1994 FIBA World Championship, winning the gold medal.
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Later in January 2001, Rick Majerus announced that he would sit out the rest of the season to recover from his own health problems and to be with his ailing mother.
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Rick Majerus was accused of berating and verbally abuse his players.
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On December 15,2004, Rick Majerus was hired as coach of the University of Southern California basketball team; he was to replace interim coach Jim Saia, who was replacing fired coach Henry Bibby, with Rick Majerus taking over effective April 1,2005.
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Rick Majerus's contract was scheduled to pay him $5 million over five years.
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However, Rick Majerus unexpectedly resigned only five days later in a somber, and at times weeping, press conference.
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Rick Majerus worked as a game and studio analyst for ESPN from 2004 to 2007.
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Rick Majerus was a fan favorite and cult figure around college basketball, known for his portly, rotund figure and his quirky, jovial personality.
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Rick Majerus enjoyed bratwurst, a sausage popular in his native Wisconsin.
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However, as he had done previously at other programs, Rick Majerus eventually made SLU a winning program.
25.
In September 2000, Rick Majerus had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee but didn't follow a doctor's orders to take a break from basketball; this prevented his knee from healing properly.
26.
On New Year's Day 2001, Rick Majerus complained of chest pains and was hospitalized for one week, prompting him to take the rest of the year off from coaching to devote his energies to his health and to his ailing mother.
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Rick Majerus returned to coaching in the fall of 2001.
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Rick Majerus died of heart failure in a Los Angeles hospital on December 1,2012, at age 64.
29.
Rick Majerus truly embraced the term 'student-athlete,' and I think that will be his lasting legacy.
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Rick Majerus was devoted to his mother, Alyce, until her death in August 2011, after initially being diagnosed with cancer in 1987.
31.
Rick Majerus was married to Deor Mary Hitt for two years in the mid-1980s and dated the same woman in the last 25 years of his life.
32.
Rick Majerus was never happier than when he was doing that.
33.
The donation founded the Rick Majerus Endowed Scholarship, which will help first-generation students in the Helen Way Klingler College of Arts and Sciences.