Rick Majerus

[_16volt]

According to ASUDevils.com

Former Utah coach and current ESPN analyst Rick Majerus has accepted an offer to become Arizona State’s next basketball coach, pending extensive medical and other background checks.


I think he could turn ASU around If he does not die on the job. I will not beleive this until he is actually on the sidelines. He also took the USC job then a week later said he could not do it due to his health.

This could be a great sign but with his health problems it could be over really quick.

[ASU_Husker]

Same site now says he was not cleared to be coaching..
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Health issues will prevent Rick Majerus from becoming Arizona State's next basketball coach, according to sources close to the ESPN analyst and inside the Sun Devil athletic department. After heavily campaigning for the position for weeks, Majerus accepted a conditional offer pending a background check and medical clearance, but it was determined on Wednesday that he was not sufficiently physically prepared for a return to the coaching ranks.


Associated Press
Health concerns will prevent ASU from hiring Majerus
A source familiar with the discussions between ASU athletic director Lisa Love and Majerus said that concern about Majerus' health and fitness became the lone impediment to a deal ultimately being signed between the two parties.

Love met with Majerus on at least two occasions to discuss the position, with the conditional offer made in the second meeting. Majerus was said to be so excited about the position, he offered to take the job at the same annual salary that was being paid to Rob Evans, approximately $600,000.

Majerus backed out of the USC coaching job less than a week after he was hired in December of 2004, when Love worked at the school, and that along with Majerus' significant health concerns prompted Love to require more stringent medical testing clearance and background checks than would typically be the case with a coaching hire.

In addition to heart problems, Majerus is diabetic and his weight issues combined with a problem with one of his knees has reportedly made it difficult for him to walk at times. Though Majerus was willing and indeed eager to return to coaching, it appears that his health issues were significant enough to prevent it from happening, at least with ASU.

It it appears the Sun Devils will turn to either Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett, or perhaps former Indiana coach Mike Davis, both of whom have discussed the job with Love in recent days.

Bennett, 43, is one of the top young mid-major coaches in the country and particularly in the west. He jump-started the Gaels program by targeting two junior college players that became instant impact players and earned conference accolades the following year. Bennett's teams are tenacious and fundamentally sound. He has a very imaginative approach to recruiting; he'll take international players, junior college prospects and high school sleepers and meld them all together into a seamless product on the court. Bennett spent 16 years as an assistant coach at San Diego, Pepperdine and Saint Louis, working for current Washington coach Lorenzo Romar for five years before taking the job at St. Mary's in 2001.


Associated Press
Bennett may now be the favorite to land the ASU job
Bennett's grew up in Mesa, playing at Westwood High and later for his father Tom Bennett at Mesa Community College, who previously was the head coach at Gilbert High and now is an assistant at Westwood High.

St. Mary's went 2-27 the year before Bennett took over and had an RPI of 315 (out of 319). Just four seasons later, he guided the Gaels to a 25-win season, which included a 15-1 record at home and a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The 2005-06 version of the Gaels went 17-12, a drop off from the previous season, but they won 9-of-11 to finish the season and were playing a very young and inexperienced squad after losing four of the top six players on the team, by minutes played.

Davis, 45, expressed interest in the job after stepping down as the Hoosiers coach following his team's loss to Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. He is an intriguing, if somewhat controversial candidate considering his oft-stormy relationship with the Indiana athletic department and blunt-spoken personality.

In six seasons at Indiana, Davis' teams went a combined 115-79 and 55-41 in Big Ten play. He was the first ever coach at the school to lead his first three teams to 20-win seasons and NCAA Tournament appearances. Davis is 7-4 in the NCAA Tournament and he reached the Final Four in 2001-02.

Davis is considered to be a players' coach and he runs an offensive system that is similar to many used in the NBA.

Others who have been contacted by ASU and are reportedly still under consideration are Montana coach Larry Krystkowiak, who led his team to back-to-back Big Sky championships and NCAA berths, and current Memphis Grizzlies assistant coach Lionel Hollins, a former star Sun Devil guard. As anticipated, Wichita State coach Mark Turgeon declined interest in the position on Monday.

[ASU_Husker]

I'd love to see Mike Davis make his way to Arizona State, I think he'd turn the program around quickly...It's a shame Majerus got away.

[brady_44]

Either Bennett or Davis would be ok in my book. I don't think it will happen, but I would also love to see Davis at ASU. I think he would be a fantastic fit... much better than at Indiana.

[ASU_Husker]

Does anyone have any sources saying that Creighton coach Dana Altman is speculated to take the job at Arizona State? The folks at BlueJayCafe are having a fit about this one... http://thebluejaycafe.com/BB/viewtopic.php?t=3153 .. Any ASU source confirming their want in DA?

[ASU_Husker]

Okay, clearly upon further review Dana Altman is now on the list. Dana is a GOD around here and he LOVE it here, which is why I think it might be hard for State to draw him away from Omaha. Altman has turned down SEVERAL BCS teams, including Illinois twice. This man is a moutain mover and would take Arizona State and make them do a complete 180degree turn around. He is one hell of a baskeball coach..Arizona State would be extremely lucky to get him. I want Altman to stay here, but if he leaves for ASU ill be thrilled beyond word.

[ASU_Husker]

Sorry for the x3 post, but here is the Rivals ASUDevils.com insider article on it:

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Arizona State's search for a new basketball coach continues into the start of Final Four Weekend. There are currently six candiates generating significant discussion.

Lisa Love will be in attendance at the Final Four, where presumably she will be making additional interviews of candidates still under consideration for the position.

Here is a detailed capsule of each coach who has been prominently mentioned and remains a legitimate possibility.

Randy Bennett is widely considered to be one of the top mid-major program heads in the west. In his first head coaching job after years as Lorenzo Romar's top assistant at Saint Louis and Pepperdine, Bennett took over a Saint Mary's team in 2001 that went 2-27 the year before and had an RPI of 315 (out of 319). Just four seasons later, he guided the Gaels to a 25-win season, which included a 15-1 record at home and a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Bennett is a Mesa, Arizona native whose father Tom coached at Mesa College and Gilbert High. His 2005-06 squad had four new starters and went 17-12. It is believed that the 43 year-old Bennett would jump at an offer to coach at ASU.

Mike Davis recently stepped down after six season as head coach at Indiana, where he replaced Bobby Knight. In his first three seasons on the job he led the Hoosiers to three straight 20-plus win seasons and NCAA Tournament berths in each year. This season he again took his squad to the Big Dance, where they advanced to the second round. Davis went 115-79 (.593) overall and 55-41 in league play at the school. He is known as a players' coach and uses an offensive system that is more common in the NBA than in college. Pressure associated with the heft of the Indiana job and the significance of replacing Knight was a constant factor for Davis and he said he wanted to start anew somewhere else.

Larry Krystkowiak took over the head coaching position at his alma mater Montana prior to the 2004-05 season and promptly led the Grizzlies to their first winning season in three years and an NCAA Tournament berth, a feat they repeateded in his second season. The Big Sky conference winners then beat Nevada as a 12 seed. Krystkowiak played for former Stanford and current Golden State Warriors coach Mike Montgomery at Montana. In fact, Krystkowiak is the school's all-time scoring and rebounding record holder. He is the only player to be named Big Sky Player of the Year three times. The 41 year-old went on to play nine seasons in the NBA before beginning his coaching career

Having just concluded his 12th season at the helm of Creighton, Dana Altman might be the only mid-major coach in the country with the ability to say his program has won 20 games or more in eight straight seasons and earned six NCAA Tournament appearances over that period. The 47 year-old coach is one of the great minds in college basketball, a magna cum laude graduate from Eastern New Mexico. The year before he was hired by Creighton, the team went 7-22. Two years later they were a .500 ballclub and two years after that they were 18-10 and in the NIT. Altman has had many opportunities to move up to the high major ranks but he has repeatedly maintained that he is happy where he is at.

Mark Fox is considered another of the up-and-coming young mid-major coaches. He blends a keen eye for talent and ability to recruit and land players that are, frankly, too talented to be playing basketball in a mid-major conference for a team like Nevada. These players have included NBA first-round pick Kirk Snyder, Kevin Pickney and Nick Fazekas, a likely future NBA first-round pick who was evaluated by the previous Arizona State staff but not offered a scholarship. Fox is one of the smartest basketball coaches at any level, a magna cum laude graduate of Eastern New Mexico University where he played, and a Masters degree recipient in Athletics Administration and Sports Psychology from Kansas.

Lionel Hollins was a Sporting News All-American at Arizona State in 1975 after transferring to the program from Dixie Junior College. As a star guard, he led the Sun Devils to a NCAA Regional Final in his final year in Tempe and was the sixth pick of the 1975 draft. Hollins played for 10 years in the NBA and participated in three NBA finals. He was an assistant coach with the Phoenix Suns for seven years before joining the Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies. He was an interim head coach for the team in Vancouver for 60 games in 1999-2000 and also was a head coach in the IBL and USBL for short stints. He has expressed interest in the ASU opening though he has no experience coaching at the college level.

[ASU_Husker]

Scout.com has N.C. State's Coach Sendek as Ariz. States prime target...which wasn't even list on the rivals article i posted last night? Who knows anymore..whoever comes better be ready to start winning.

Scout.com: Sendek Emerges as Leading Coaching Candidate.

[brady_44]

Sendek is the new coach. Don't know much about him but I think it will be an enormous improvement.

[ASU_Husker]

I don't know if I said it before, but Arizona State has to be succch a hot job. Such a solid program that can be turned around with the right guy. I hope that Sendek is that guy, I'd love to see ASU in the top half of the Pac-10 next year..

[Go-Pac]

NC State basketball coach Herb Sendek has accepted the position at ASU. It should be a good match.

[Go-Pac]

Herb Sendek, NC State, will coach ASU. Five straight NCAA appearances. It should be a good match.

[Go-Pac]

Crap, double post. Please forgive me.