Rick Majerus To Miss 2012-13 Season

Rick Majerus, who led Saint Louis back into NCAA Tournament last season, will not be on sideline with Billikens this year due to medical reasons which forced him to take leave of absence.  (Photo courtesy of CBS Sports)

For any college basketball fan, the story and tweets that came from the city notorious for the Gateway Arch were equal parts disturbing and melancholy.

Saint Louis University was in one of the more desirable positions in the nation going into the upcoming season.  With everyone except Brian Conklin returning to a team that nearly upset Tom Izzo and Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament last year, the Billikens were a potential Top 25 team that many experts were picking to win the Atlantic 10, which welcomes Butler and VCU into the fold in just about three months.  Sadly, it all came crashing down Saturday morning.

The Billikens did not lose any players, and will still be among the favorites in the A-10; but they will attempt to return to the field of 68 without head coach Rick Majerus, who will be taking medical leave that will keep him off the sidelines this season.  Assistant coach Jim Crews, who has prior head coaching experience at Evansville and also at Army, will serve as Majerus' interim replacement.  However, for the affable 64-year-old coach whose defensive mindset makes him one of the most underrated in his profession in addition to being one of the most gregarious, one cannot help but wonder if this vacation from the bench may be permanent given Majerus' history of past health problems.

Formerly the head coach at Marquette and Ball State, Rick Majerus became a household name in the mid-1990s, when he turned the University of Utah into a perennial Top 25 program.  With future NBA players such as Keith Van Horn, Andre Miller and Michael Doleac; as well as Finnish big man Hanno Mottola, Majerus built the Utes into a deceptively strong mid-major opponent, frequently reaching the NCAA Tournament in a run highlighted by their trip to the national championship game in 1998, one in which Utah led at halftime before falling to Tubby Smith and Kentucky.  After Majerus left the Utes, he became a popular choice among many St. John's fans and alumni to replace Mike Jarvis at the helm of the Red Storm, a job that ultimately went to Norm Roberts.  Majerus' heart problems may have kept him from getting the St. John's job, and they made him reconsider coaching at USC, where he held an emotional press conference announcing his resignation just days after he was hired by the Trojans.  Five years ago, the burly head man with an engaging personality as big as his frame took over at Saint Louis, a school that had seen its fair share of success despite being largely overlooked.

Saint Louis' season may have come as a surprise to most, but when you look at Majerus' career record; which includes a winning percentage over .700 and countless postseason appearances, it really should not be that much of a shock.  For me personally, I was looking forward to finally meeting the legendary coach at Atlantic 10 media day in Brooklyn, and catching up again when his Billikens came to Rose Hill Gym to face Fordham.  

Now, all anyone mildly associated with college basketball can do is hope for the best, to pray that the extra-large coach with the extra-large personality gets another chance to embrace the world that loves him, and rightfully so.  It's only right, because the coach deserves another chance.  There are not enough like him in this world, which is why he needs to stay around a little longer.  If you don't do anything else today, just say a prayer for Rick Majerus.  That alone speaks more than all the words of praise known to man ever can.