So sad. Big Rick was one hell of a basketball coach. IMO very underrated. Some of his Utah teams were great and he had St Lou back in the mix.

Thoughts & prayers go out to the Majerus family. 

http://depaul.scout.com/2/1245533.html

RIP Coach Majerus :(

Rest in peace coach. In my opinion one of the better coaches of this generation. He will be missed

sentiments echoed. I'll forever appreciate his crassness because he was a results guy.

http://deadspin.com/5439875/ah...majerus-edition

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--- mrap24 wrote:

Rest in peace coach. In my opinion one of the better coaches of this generation. He will be missed

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I agree mrap. I always had big respect for him. You guys remember all those years he was at Utah he lived in a hotel room? Classic stuff. Coached great players like Keith Van Horne, Michael Doliec and Andre Miller. You go back and look at those years at Utah he was banging out 20 win seasons left and right.

Coming up under Al McGuire and Hank Raymonds at Marquette he was one of the last of the old school classy chaoches and I am sad to see him pass.

Prayers and best thoughts for his family!

I met him in the MSP airport back in 1996 after Utah lost to Kentucky earlier that weekend. We talked a bit as he was rumored to be in the Illinois job mix but they ended up hiring Lon Krueger the week before. Said he would've loved to come back to the Midwest and that Illinois was a heck of program. I asked about DePaul as that was around the end of the Meyer era and he said you never know, he loved Coach Ray. I guess I'll never foget how real and genuine he was to a total stranger. I also dug the fact he walked to the beat of his own drummer and did things his way. He will be missed.

I met him at the Nike camp years ago and was very nice. However, I'll always remember him for this doozy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RXaERVhNuU

I don't post often, but I felt the need to touch on this topic.

One of my all-time favorite coaches. Watching what he did with those mid-late nineties Utah teams was a major part of my college hoop fandom growing up. The last few years I found myself watching far too many SLU games for comfort. The guy was a mythical figure in college hoops. He could also flat-out coach.

You'll be missed big Rick. Rest well.

I also met Rick in the beautiful old Pfister hotel that he lived in Milwaukee. I was attending a wedding for my cousin about 12 years ago. We both rode down in the elevator together. He was the nicest man and openly discussed hoops with me after we got off the elevator and chatted in the lobby.

My last question to him....we would love to have you coach at DePaul in Chicago. His comment was something like "I am open to anything that is interesting..."

Good man.

RIP big Rick. You were a heck of a basketball coach, a genuinely good human being, and based on the people you touched in your career a positive influence on the game.  

He never lost that Midwestern feel which I really liked.  We all know he had a somewhat "different" side, but it all came from his passion for the game and the kids he coached.  Finally, any man that loved Coach as much as he did is fine in my book!

Dan:

That is funny, Lavin had trouble containing himself.  There was another where he was alluding to renting porn in his hotel room or something. I couldn't find it

So sad to hear of this news. I always had a lot of respect for him, not only as a great coach but as a commentator.  I remember he did a few DePaul games and was always impressed by his love and knowledge of the game.
Rest in peace Coach Majerus, you will be missed!!

What terrible news. Great guy. I will never forget when he came to Coach Ray's funeral mass....very classy. Never had a bad word to say about DePaul. Always upbeat and happy, and one hell of a coach. College basketball lost a good one.

As a young man raised in Utah, I will never forget how Majerus' Utah Utes made us play a little harder and with more pride on the court. I was happy for him when he took the St. Louis job and believe it or not, felt a little closer to home while at DePaul - knowing Big Rick was just down the road from Chicago. Well another great one returns home, many thoughts to those lives he's impacted.. GO DEMONS - GO WEBER ST - GO RUNNIN UTES..!!

He could have won anywhere. Rest in peace.

Aside from the job he did at Utah and Saint Louis, Majerus had a pretty good team at Ball State that gave fits to UNLV in the NCAA tourney, as I recall.

Playing and coaching at Marquette, I was never sure why he left there.

I know he was on the cusp of getting the Notre Dame job, before they hired Brey, but was rejected after it was found he made some unfortunate remark in a book.

The big Gay guy thing is classic. 

The number of replies here is really a testament to how big of an impact Majerus made on the game of basketball. 

I was at the Final Four in San Antonio when his Utah team took down Arizona with that triangle and two defense.  That was genius.  When it came to game preparation, Majerus was the best. 

I'm not a big sport memorabilia collector, but I do have 4 basketball books autographed by coaches on my bookshelf.  One thing that saddens me is that three of the four coaches are now dead - Ray Meyer, Al McGuire, & Majerus.  Phil Jackson is the 4th one.