Billikens face future without Majerus

• On Friday, St. Louis announced that Rick Majerus' health would prevent him from returning as coach
• Having coach Jim Crews in place has ensured a smooth transition, perhaps at a faster practice pace
• The Billikens men's basketball team is emotional about Majerus' absence but determined to win

ST. LOUIS — Jim Crews found out a few days before the rest of them did. He had to — so he could say yes to a job he never expected to take.

The captains found out on a conference call. Kwamain Mitchell was still home for the summer; Dwayne Evans and Cody Ellis were already back at school. They had to help break the news to their teammates.

The rest of the world found out Aug. 24, the announcement coming as 610 somber words in a press release: After a summer (and years, really) spent battling poor health, Saint Louis men's basketball coach Rick Majerus would be taking a leave of absence and miss the 2012-13 season because of heart issues.

Friday afternoon, the school announced that the leave of absence had turned into Majerus not returning to Saint Louis at all, a decision bringing with it a sense of frightening finality.

"When you first hear it, it doesn't sound right," SLU assistant coach Tanner Bronson told USA TODAY Sports by phone Friday night. "When news like this happens, it takes awhile to settle in. … The sport, it won't be the same without him.

"Our guys are really trying to do our best and support Coach, have him in our prayers, things like that — encourage him in any way possible, trying to do their best to honor him on the court with their season."

Majerus remains in California receiving treatment for a serious heart condition. Details of the condition have not been made public, and those involved in the Saint Louis basketball program are unaware of the type and extent of heart condition Majerus has.

It's looking more and more like Saint Louis' loss to Michigan State, a 65-61 nail-biter in the NCAA tournament's third round, will be the final chapter of Majerus' illustrious coaching career.

"I'm praying for him every night," Mitchell, the Billikens' redshirt senior guard, said last week. "Keeping Coach in my prayers every night."

Angie Kvidera, Majerus' girlfriend, has known Majerus for 30 years and said that Majerus very rarely talks about his health issues, even with his sisters.

"He is a very private man as far as his health concerns -- he never discusses it," Kvidera told USA TODAY Sports by phone Sunday afternoon. "I have to respect his wishes on that. But it is a very serious heart condition. We can feel all the thoughts and prayers that are coming his way. It's just a really, really long hard road. I know in my heart he's going to get through this. He's got the determination and strength that he will. It's just a long road."

***

Majerus, 64, has long been one of the game's best coaches, a teacher who often took unheralded guys and turn them into players with pro potential. He made four stops — at Marquette (his alma mater), Ball State, Utah and Saint Louis — while compiling a 517-215 record over his 25-year head coaching career.

His teams took 12 trips to the NCAA tournament, including, most notably, the 1997-98 Utes, who reached the NCAA title game before falling to Kentucky. Last season, Majerus' fifth with the Billikens, Saint Louis made the NCAA tournament for the first time in 12 years.

Majerus' on-court success speaks for itself; his off-court life remains a great deal more complicated. He helped many players and coaches, but could be alienating to others. And he had his quirks — like living out of a hotel, telling The Sporting News in 2000 he likes it because "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."

Majerus accepted the head coaching job at USC in Dec. 2004, saying at his introductory press conference: "I hope I die here. I hope I coach here the rest of my life." Less than a week later, Majerus backed out and returned to ESPN as an analyst.

Throughout it all, he's dealt with heart issues. At Utah, he took multiple leaves of absence. In his first season with the Utes, he underwent coronary bypass surgery in December 1989 after coaching the first six games of the season. In January 2004, he was hospitalized again for heart problems.

When SLU found out in August that Majerus' condition was serious enough to prevent him from coaching, those around the basketball program knew his outlook wasn't good.

"Your reaction is immediate concern for his health and well-being," athletic director Chris May said. "That's what our focus is continually, sending our prayers to him as he deals with a challenge while at the same time focusing on our student-athletes, which is what Rick would want."

When the Billiken players heard the news back in August, they were surprised and worried. They hadn't seen Majerus all summer, but they knew he was excited for the season.

"Coach has always been tough and fair with our guys," Bronson said. "To see their reactions and how emotional they were, you kind of got an appreciation of what he meant to everybody on this team."

After Saint Louis fell to Michigan State in the NCAA tournament, SLU's leading scorer, senior forward Brian Conklin, broke down at the post-game news conference, trying to describe how important Majerus was to the revival of Saint Louis basketball.

"Being his first recruiting class, he told us we were going to help him build something special here," Conklin said, struggling to get each word out between tears. "I felt like this year it really came together. … He's a great coach. I couldn't imagine playing for a better coach, a better person. He doesn't teach you just about ball, he teaches you about life."

That sentiment is echoed by many in the college basketball world, including Bronson, a 27-year-old SLU assistant who has known Majerus since he was seven.

"He's a great friend of mine," Bronson said. "He's done a lot for me in my life as a coaching mentor as well as a person in general. For me, it's been a tough process because of how much I care about him as a friend and basically a family member."

Majerus' basketball mind deserves praise, too, something it never quite got enough of during Majerus' career.

"He's one of the great tacticians and coaches and students of the game," CBS Sports analyst Clark Kellogg said last week. "He sees it and explains it in a unique way, which I've always enjoyed.

"He'll be missed."

Kvidera said Majerus' coaching career isn't necessarily over. "He fully believes he's going to be able to coach," she said. "If it's not going to be at Saint Louis, I know he's going to be coaching again somewhere."

***

Right before the 2011-12 season began, Majerus called up Crews, an old friend he'd known for decades. Al Jensen, a fixture on Majerus' staff at SLU for four seasons, had left to coach in the NBA Development League. Majerus had a hole to fill.

"He just kind of said, 'Just come over and coach, it's just six months,' " Crews said. "Actually he said four and a half, but his math was a little bit wrong. So it was good, and he treated me great. The staff was fun, and the kids were having a good year. It was a lot of fun. It was just for the six months. That's all we were planning on doing."

Crews, 58, played for Bob Knight at Indiana back in the mid-1970s, winning a national championship as a member of the Hoosiers' undefeated 1976 team. He joined Knight's staff in 1977 and remained an assistant for eight years.

Crews spent the next 24 years as a head coach, leading Evansville to four NCAA tournament appearances and coaching Army to a 59-140 record over seven seasons before being fired just prior to the start of the 2009-10 season. Crews had worked alongside Majerus once — back in 1997 as an assistant on Majerus' Under-22 Team USA staff — and he admired the man.

"We both enjoy basketball from kind of a purist standpoint," Crews said. He signed on for six months.

Those six months turned into another season, as Crews stayed on for this season. But he didn't expect his role to change until suddenly, it had to.

The transition from Majerus to Crews as the team's interim coach has gone smoothly. Crews is running the same system Majerus did, and both have similar coaching philosophies. They're both vocal during practice, and they demand a lot out of their players. "The meat and potatoes is the same," as Crews puts it.

The biggest difference, it seems, is the pace of practice.

"Coach Majerus is all about teaching, slowing it down," Mitchell said. " 'You've got to do this. Your foot is in the wrong place."

Crews keeps players moving at all time. No minute of practice is wasted. That comes from Bob Knight.

"His ability for time management was the best I've seen," Crews said. "He didn't let time slip away. That doesn't mean work, work, work. I don't mean that. Whatever he's doing, he's getting a full day in."

So does Crews. And the players respond to him because they know him and trust him after last season.

'It was almost like Rick set this up for him not being here in a bizarre sort of way," said SLU's longtime play-by-play announcer Bob Ramsey, who is in his 27th season calling Billikens games. "Not that I would ever suggest that Rick knew he'd be ill, but … it's almost like he set it up that if there were a problem, somebody like Crews would be here to take over."

It's helped, of course, that SLU's roster is full of veteran players. They know the system and what's expected of them. Four starters returned from a team that spent some time last season in the Top 25, and even without Majerus, the Billikens were picked to finish second in the Atlantic 10 this year.

SLU was dealt another bad break as Mitchell, the team's top returning scorer, broke his foot in early October. He spends practices on the sidelines, observing drills and players from more of a coach's perspective. He calls it "mentally gaining experience," and he hopes to return by the start of conference season.

These Billikens have had anything but an easy start to their season. They lost their coach (permanently), their point guard (temporarily) and their peace of mind (indefinitely).

With the worrying, though, comes perseverance. Majerus told this Saint Louis team it had a chance to win the A-10 championship this season. So the team plans on doing that for him.

"I think about Rick every day," Crews said. "He's a good friend of mine and he's really been not healthy. Obviously, that has us all definitely concerned. Definitely concerned."

Said SLU forward Dwayne Evans: "He is a huge part of this program's success. We really miss him. He was a great guy on and off the court. He was our leader. Of course we are going to play for him.

"We try not to worry and not think the worst, and hopefully he's doing whatever he needs to do to take care of himself."

Kvidera said Majerus wishes he was back in St. Louis coaching the Billikens.

"This would have been a hell of a year," she said. "I can't tell you how much he wants to be there, but he can't right now.

"He is going to get better. That's from my heart and from being with him every day."