Rick Majerus Selected for National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame
April 02, 2019 | Men's Basketball
Majerus led the Cardinals to the best single-season winning percentage in MAC history
Former Ball State men's basketball head coach Rick Majerus, who guided the Cardinals to the winningest season in program history, has been selected for induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
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Majerus will be enshrined Nov. 24 in Kansas City, along with fellow former coaches Lute Olson and Homer Drew and former players Larry Johnson of UNLV, Shane Battier of Duke, Calbert Cheaney of Indiana, Terry Dischinger of Purdue, Ernie DiGregorio of Providence and Todd Lichti of Stanford.
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Majerus, who won more than 500 games in his career, also coached at Marquette, Utah and Saint Louis. He passed away in December 2012 at age 64.
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In just two years at Ball State, Majerus left a lasting impression. He took a Cardinals team that won nine games a year before his arrival to a 14-14 record in 1987-88 and a school-record 29-3 mark in 1988-89. The 29 wins were the most in MAC history at the time and continue to rank third in the league's annals.
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His 1988-89 team won both the MAC regular season and tournament championships. The Cardinals defeated Purdue, Minnesota and Northwestern of the Big Ten that year and earned a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They advanced to the second round with a win over Pittsburgh before falling to No. 1 seed Illinois.Â
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The win over Pitt was the first-ever NCAA Tournament victory for Ball State. Majerus left for Utah after that season, but the team he had assembled went on to play in the Sweet 16 the following year under his former assistant Dick Hunsaker.
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Majerus went on to spend 15 seasons at Utah with 11 of those teams advancing to the NCAA Tournament. His 1997-98 Utes team finished 30-4 and played in the national championship game, where it lost to Kentucky.
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Majerus won six Western Athletic Conference regular season championships at Utah and was a five-time WAC Coach of the Year.
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After three years away from coaching, Majerus returned to the bench in 2007 at Saint Louis. He turned around the Billikens program and took them to the NCAA Tournament in his final season. He was 26-8 his last year at Saint Louis to finish his 25-year head coaching career with a record of 517-215.
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Majerus will be enshrined Nov. 24 in Kansas City, along with fellow former coaches Lute Olson and Homer Drew and former players Larry Johnson of UNLV, Shane Battier of Duke, Calbert Cheaney of Indiana, Terry Dischinger of Purdue, Ernie DiGregorio of Providence and Todd Lichti of Stanford.
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Majerus, who won more than 500 games in his career, also coached at Marquette, Utah and Saint Louis. He passed away in December 2012 at age 64.
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In just two years at Ball State, Majerus left a lasting impression. He took a Cardinals team that won nine games a year before his arrival to a 14-14 record in 1987-88 and a school-record 29-3 mark in 1988-89. The 29 wins were the most in MAC history at the time and continue to rank third in the league's annals.
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His 1988-89 team won both the MAC regular season and tournament championships. The Cardinals defeated Purdue, Minnesota and Northwestern of the Big Ten that year and earned a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They advanced to the second round with a win over Pittsburgh before falling to No. 1 seed Illinois.Â
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The win over Pitt was the first-ever NCAA Tournament victory for Ball State. Majerus left for Utah after that season, but the team he had assembled went on to play in the Sweet 16 the following year under his former assistant Dick Hunsaker.
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Majerus went on to spend 15 seasons at Utah with 11 of those teams advancing to the NCAA Tournament. His 1997-98 Utes team finished 30-4 and played in the national championship game, where it lost to Kentucky.
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Majerus won six Western Athletic Conference regular season championships at Utah and was a five-time WAC Coach of the Year.
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After three years away from coaching, Majerus returned to the bench in 2007 at Saint Louis. He turned around the Billikens program and took them to the NCAA Tournament in his final season. He was 26-8 his last year at Saint Louis to finish his 25-year head coaching career with a record of 517-215.
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