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Thursday, November 30, 2000
West: Majerus looks out for No. 1
By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
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When a doctor told Rick Majerus that he was about to make a choice -- live his life in pain or miss a few basketball games -- he finally decided to think about his health.
|  | | Rick Majerus didn't go to Puerto Rico. |
Majerus had knee surgery before the season began but he didn't stay off his knee. It swelled and swelled and swelled. When practice began, he coached standing up. Sure, he would sit underneath a basket for a few minutes, but once someone committed a turnover, he would jump up and correct it.
The clincher came last week when he decided to show a post player how to pivot in the lane. He turned, without thinking about his knee, and it popped again. The swelling came back and he was in pain. So much that he had to go to medicine for relief.
He felt even worse last weekend when he flew to Milwaukee from Salt Lake City (and actually had to go through Cincinnati) to visit his former coach and friend Al McGuire in a hospice.
"When I got off the plane, I couldn't walk it was so sore," Majerus said. "My doctor said we're done with you if you're not going to treat it. They were talking about another operation."
Faced with a six-hour plane trip to Puerto Rico for this weekend's Puerto Rico Shootout, Majerus made what would seem like a simple decision. But for a demanding and controlling coach it wasn't easy. He decided to rehab his knee and leave the coaching to assistant Dick Hunsaker. Majerus will go to a rehab clinic while the team is in Puerto Rico. He'll swim and he'll stay off his knee. When he coaches, he rarely sits. Not during the game, not in the pregame, not during a timeout.
"We were up by 26 (against Idaho State) and I told one of the managers to get my stool," Majerus said. "I sat down for a minute, we missed two layups and I was right back up."
Majerus said he's not going to call Hunsaker to check up on him.
"I told him I don't care if he comes back 0-3 and kicked three guys off the team because I have total support in him," Majerus said of his former Ball State assistant. "This is the first time in my life, outside of my heart surgery and I had no choice, that I'm thinking about taking care of me. I've got to fix this or I'll be limping and be on pain pills for the rest of my life."
Air Force's victory over Houston in its season opener was the Falcons' first non-conference win against a high-major conference (Conference USA) since beating Auburn (and subsequently the SEC) in 1980.
The Great Alaska Shootout announced its 2001 field (possibly its second to last if the conference commissioners get their way). The field is comparable to this year's field with Indiana, St. John's, Tennessee, Texas, Marquette, Oregon State, Gonzaga and host Alaska-Anchorage.
USC continues to deny any involvement with the Maddox situation at Fresno State, even though Jeff Trepagnier was with Maddox on the famed trip to Las Vegas in September. The two Compton teammates went to meet a friend but in question is whether or not, at least Maddox, met with an agent. USC said Trepagnier is out with a stress fracture until Dec. 2 and the school said he has been cleared of any wrongdoing. Trainers can't ever risk falsifying medical information, making it legit that Trepagnier is out with an injury and nothing else.
BYU's heralded McDonald's All-American Garner Meads, who has been out with a lacerated lung, decided to redshirt and go on a Mormon Church mission in February. Meanwhile, heralded freshman Jesse Pinegar is also choosing to redshirt after suffering a stress fracture. But Pinegar is putting off a mission next year, allowing the Cougars to get more balance in their recruiting classes.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. His Weekly Word on college basketball is updated Thursdays/Fridays throughout the year.
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