Ron Majerus won't coach this year

Saint Louis coach Rick Majerus won't coach this season due to heart issues.


A spokesman told CBSSports.com that the 64-year-old Majerus will sit out the 2012-13 campaign and will be replaced by interim coach Jim Crews.


"Rick is in a California hospital underoing evaluation and treatment for an ongoing heart condition," Saint Louis athletic director Chris May said in a statement. "His health is the most important issue right now, and our hope is for full and complete recovery."

The Billikens returned just about everyone except leading scorer Brian Conklin and are expected to compete for the A-10 title.



Majerus has a 517-215 career mark in his head coaching career, which has included stops at Marquette, Ball State and Utah, where he took the Utes to the national title game in 1998.


Saint Louis finished 26-8 last season and lost to Michigan State in the third round of the NCAA tournament.


Majerus accepted the USC job back in 2004, but then resigned days later due to health issues and worked as an analyst with ESPN from 2004 to 2007. He took over at Saint Louis in 2007, and two years ago missed time due to an infection in his leg. He was also unable to coach the team's trip to Canada a year ago when he had a stent inserted.

The school said it has not made a decision on the head-coaching position beyond the 2013-14 campaign, but this could well end Majerus' career.

Crews joined the Billikens prior to last season. He was the head coach at Army for seven seasons (2002-09) and played for Bob Knight at Indiana.

"Coach Majerus is not only a colleague, but a dear friend, so this is a difficult time," Crews said.

 

This post is hidden to guests.
To view this post, please log in.
If you are not a member, you will need to sign up.