Richard Raymond Majerus (February 17, 1948 – December 1, 2012) was an American basketball coach and TV analyst. He coached at Marquette University (1983–1986), Ball State University (1987–1989), the University of Utah (1989–2004), and Saint Louis University (2007–2012). Majerus's most successful season came at Utah in the 1997–98 season, when the Utes finished as runners-up in the 1998 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Majerus was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019.
Majerus was the son of Alyce and Raymond Majerus, a Kohler factory worker and labor leader who was at one time secretary-treasurer of the United Auto Workers. Rick was raised with sisters Jodi and Tracy.
As a teenager, Rick accompanied his father to the civil rights marches in Selma, Alabama, an experience that had a profound impact on him. A voracious reader, he read four complete newspapers a day according to his sisters.
Majerus graduated from Marquette University High School in 1966. He stayed in Milwaukee, attending Marquette University, where he was the first in his family to attend college. He tried out as a walk-on in the 1967 season and played for the Marquette freshman team. He did not play varsity basketball for Marquette, but stayed on as a student assistant. He graduated in 1970 with a bachelor's degree in history.
While at Marquette and serving as a student assistant for the Warriors, Majerus began coaching eighth-graders at St. Sebastian Grade School in Milwaukee, then coached freshmen boys at Marquette University High School.
In 1971, after graduating from Marquette, 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. He was an assistant under McGuire when the Warriors advanced to the 1974 Final four and won the 1977 NCAA Championship. Longtime NBA player and coach Glenn "Doc" Rivers played at Marquette and it was Majerus that gave Rivers his "Doc" nickname.
As head coach at Marquette, Majerus led the Warriors to a 56–35 (.615) record and three consecutive NIT appearances in his three seasons.
After three years as head coach at Marquette, he became an assistant coach with the National Basketball Association's Milwaukee Bucks for the 1986–87 season, serving under Don Nelson.
He coached at Ball State University for two seasons where he had a record of 43–17. After a 14–14 initial season, Majerus led the team to the second round of the NCAA tournament in the 1988–89 season. The 1988–89 team holds the record for best men's basketball won-lost mark (29–3) in Ball State University history.
Majerus accepted the position at Utah in 1989. In leading the "Runnin Utes" to a 1996 sweet 16 match up against Kentucky, Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino had given the opinion that Utah should be favored to win the game. Majerus responded, "if you put the two of us in a sumo ring I'd crush him. On the basketball court, I think we're in trouble."
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. He 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. After the 1998 championship game loss to Kentucky, Majerus responded, "When I die, they might as well bury me at the finish line at Churchill Downs so they can run over me again."
While at Utah, he was known for living out of a hotel room, noting that he liked that "There's clean towels, my bed is turned down every night and there's a mint on my pillow, no matter what psychological or emotional crisis the maid is going through."
He was an assistant coach under Don Nelson for the US national team in the 1994 FIBA World Championship, winning the gold medal.
Majerus left the Utah team after the opening game of the 2000–01 season to rehabilitate his right knee. Intending to return after the first week of 2001, Majerus was hospitalized on New Year's Day 2001 due to chest pains. Later in January 2001, 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. He handed over the team to assistant Dick Hunsaker, who guided the team to a 19–10 record and an NIT appearance. Majerus then returned to Utah in the fall of 2001.
Majerus was accused of berating and verbally abuse his players. Lance Allred, who wrote about it in his autobiography Longshot: The Adventures of a Deaf Fundamentalist Mormon Kid and His Journey to the NBA, told of his three years at Utah and that Majerus would humiliate him, often targeting his disability—Allred being partially deaf and requiring hearing aids. Allred transferred after the 2001–02 season, but Majerus was later "cleared of any wrongdoing."
He left Utah in January 2004 after 15 seasons and a 323–95 (.773) record, in part to get control of his health.
On December 15, 2004, 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 Majerus taking over effective April 1, 2005. His contract was scheduled to pay him $5 million over five years.
Majerus gave an energetic and humorous press conference on the day of his hire, but also noted "I hope I die here. I hope I coach here the rest of my life." In order to take the position, he needed to buy himself out of his contract as an analyst for ESPN. However, Majerus unexpectedly resigned only five days later in a somber, and at times weeping, press conference. He apologized to the university and stated that his health and fitness were not yet at a stage where he thought he could perform his new duties, noting "I wanted this job so bad I was in denial where my health actually is [...] I realized [USC] wasn't getting the guy they hired. I came to that conclusion myself. I'm not fit for this job by my standards." Years later, however, Majerus would claim that the true reason for his change of mind had not been his health, but rather had been his mother's request that he not take the job, which would have meant his relocation to Los Angeles, far removed from her home in Wisconsin.