My thoughts on Rick Majerus...

The first time Rick Majerus called me I literally got chills throughout my body.  This was THE Rick Majerus calling me.  This was the guy who coached Utah to a National Championship game, the guy who I stayed up way past my bedtime to watch coach the midnight West Coast ESPN games, the guy who's book I read when I was in high school.  He was now calling me... asking to recruit one of my players to play for him at St. Louis University.  And yes, he literally asked my permission to recruit John Manning.  That's not normal for a college coach, but then again, there wasn't much that was normal about Rick Majerus.  I started training John at age 10, the kid is like a little brother to me, so for Rick to do that really means something.

Rick Majerus died the other day.  December 1st, 2012.  I'm finding this more difficult to handle than I would of thought.  For the past few days I keep thinking back to all of the conversations I had with him throughout John's recruiting process and the practices and games I was fortunate enough to see.  For those of you not very familiar with Rick, simply Google his name.  You'll find all sorts of interesting articles.

For a few months during John's recruiting process Rick would call me about once a week.  Usually around 9 or 10pm and the conversation would be about 30-45 mins long.  I loved every second of it.  It was like a basketball education that not many people ever are fortunate enough to receive.  I didn't do much talking, much more listening.  Rick told me all about his philosophies on the game, on coaching players, on helping raise young men.  He was as proud of the success of his players off the court as he was on the court.  Truthfully he bragged about how well his former players were doing after college, but whenever he talked about the success his teams had on the court he simply stated it and moved on.  Rick kept saying to me that I should come out to SLU to visit and see the campus and get to spend some time with him.  He would tell me about a restaurant in St. Louis we could get a great meal and talk hoops.  Then he would say "I look forward to growing our friendship over the years".  An odd thing for a college coach to say.  Most coaches will say anything for a recruit, but for some reason Majerus seemed completely genuine.  That's because he was.

Probably my favorite conversation I had with him was when the phone rang one night around 10pm.  I answered the phone and he said, "Hey Alex, it's Rick Majerus, I just wanted to call because I've spent the last hour breaking down film on John and wanted to talk with you about it"... without hesitation he went right into a half hour lecture about things like John's footwork on a hook shot going right vs. going left, and the 5 reasons why John's guards struggle to get him the ball in the post... It was ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE, this man just watched film on John and was able to pull out details about the angle of his toes when shooting a shot.  He was talking about details that no one else had ever mentioned or noticed about John.  Everyone always talks about how detailed Rick is, but until you hear it or see if first hand, you could never appreciate it.

Once John committed to SLU I got the opportunity to see a few practices and games.  Going to a practice run by Rick Majerus is a mix between Andrew Dice Clay and Einstein.  The most foul mouthed comedy one second followed by a moment of pure brilliance.  For a basketball junky who doesn't mind some dirty jokes, it's the greatest thing in the world.  I wish I could write some of the things I heard him say, but as a professional and business owner who works with kids I wouldn't feel right.  We'll say this, he's very creative when calling someone a body part...

Last season I flew out to SLU for the weekend of the Washington game.  I got there in time to see practice Saturday the day before the game.  The first thing I noticed was that there was tape all over the floor, probably an extra 30-40 lines.  It was everything from driving lanes to trapping angles, every piece of tape explained the game beautifully.  The practice was as sharp as anything I've ever seen, it was everything that I had been told about Majerus coming to life.  The details were amazing, communication was flawless, traps were set with 10 toes on the lines (pieces of tape), players moved in ways that you normally see choreographed dance teams going through a routine.
After practice I got to go in the locker room / film room (one big area, two rooms right next to each other)... Best way to describe it was like on CSI or some TV cop show where the obsessed psycho killer has hundreds of photos or newspaper clippings all over the walls.  It was a different kind of obsession here, every detail about Washington's team was posted on big sheets of paper on the walls.  Leading scorers, shooting percentages, players tendencies to go right vs. left.  John had another sheet of paper that broke down every post player on Washington's team and every detail about them.  I'm not sure, but boxers or brief's may have been on there.  The preparation for this game was on a level that I had never seen before.  John's calm candid reaction... "yeah, it's like this every game".

The next day at the game SLU blew out University of Washington, a top 25 team.  The execution of what I saw the day before was flawless. What they had prepared for was happening exactly as Majerus crafted it in practice.  SLU players were always one step ahead and it showed.  It was the most incredible example of preparation and execution I had ever seen, and now that Rick has passed, I probably won't ever see anything like it again.

I knew when John signed with SLU that there was a chance that he wouldn't get four years with Majerus. I was certainly hoping he would get more than one though.  It's disappointing in one sense that he didn't get more than a year, but truthfully, one year with Majerus is better than four with a lot of other coaches.  The changes I saw in John over one year with Rick were tremendous.  I'm eternally gratefully that one of my favorite players that I've ever worked with got the chance to spend a year with Rick Majerus.   That's an opportunity that most don't get.

I didn't have to chance to know Rick Majerus for a very long time, or get to spend a lot of time with him.  But the short time that I got to know him I will value for the rest of my life.  He made a tremendous impact on me that I am eternally grateful for.  But most importantly I am thankful that one of my players was able to spend a year with Rick and see the positive impact that he was able to leave on John.

Thank you Rick.

I've never received a thank you letter from a coach before after the recruitment of a player. 85 players have gone to college from Evolution and Rick Majerus is the only coach to send a letter.  He's as unique and genuine as they come.

Alex Harris
Evolution Basketball Training
www.evobball.com

Want to talk about this topic?  Email me: alex@evobball.com