This week in MU basketball history. 26 years ago Majerus resigns

[Hoopaloop]

I thought it was 25 years ago this week but was corrected.   Twenty six years ago this week Rick Majerus left MU after a 56-35 record and three straight NIT appearances to become an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks. 

Ric Cobb was a candidate to replace Majerus along with several other coaches.  MU ultimately hired Bob Dukiet.

A trip down memory lane from Dale Hoffmann with two articles


http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4qpRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=sBIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4549,3930933&dq=rick+majerus&hl=en

[Dawson Rental]

Dukiet, it rhymes with Marquette!

[77ncaachamps]

Dukiet, it rhymes with Marquette!

And Phuket!

[4everwarriors]

Suckett

[dgies9156]

I had forgotten Ric Cobb was an assistant and up for the position. He certainly would have been better than what we ended up with and I think he certainly would have maintained the McGuire tradition.

The interesting reality was that based on the articles and conversation, one could see we had problems. Apparently, the decision on Majerus was something no one really wanted to deal with. It appears as though both Rick and the Jesuits stalled on this one as long as they could, leaving the university in the lurch. If a guy is not cutting it, you know right away and you don't wait until June 30th to solve the problem.

I read these and realized we're in much better shape and more focused today than we ever were then. All I can say is, "Thank God!!"

[mviale]

Yes, basketball is a much larger business these days.

[wyzgy]

i think he resigned before they gave him his walking papers.  there was a lot of b.s. going on behind the scenes.  i worked for a guy with pretty close connections to the team and he was pissed b/c it was more like rick was leaving on their terms. if he could have stayed, or they wanted him enough, he would have stayed. i could have this wrong and would entertain other viewpoints, but it felt like rick was fired.  i think rick got the last word in as he took utah to the final 4 and sandwiched some pretty good seasons around that which mu would have loved to have had here

[4everwarriors]

Rick merely progressed on the coach's learning curve while at MU and afterwards are Ball St. and Utah. Clearly is wasn't a good fit here at the time. His pal, Don Nelson, gave him an "out" as the Bucks' 2nd assistant. It appeared to be a promotion, but in reality, was not. Other than the timing of Rick's bolting, it was the best for both.
Hank, then boned up the entire hiring process which entailed the Mike Newell fiasco along with the hiring of a van driving, saloon keyboard player, aka the original Hurricane Katrina.

[tower912]

The vibe around campus when we returned that fall was that Majerus was pushed out by the sweater vests.   

[Goose]

Agreed completely 4ever. Timing sucked and Hank's mishandling made it worse situation. Nellie gave Rick an out and ultimately it was great career choice for Rick.

[GGGG]

I had forgotten Ric Cobb was an assistant and up for the position. He certainly would have been better than what we ended up with and I think he certainly would have maintained the McGuire tradition.

Ric Cobb would have been terrible.  Not just because he was a bad coach, which he was, but because they needed to make a clean break from the McGuire years.

In retrospect, hiring Dukiet was the best thing to happen to Marquette basketball.  It didn't seem like it at the time, but it at least woke the old boys up to the fact that it wasn't the 1970s any longer.  If they would have hired a fairly decent coach, there is no Kevin O'Neill.  And with no O'Neill, we might be watching conference games against Butler.

[dgies9156]

Ric Cobb would have been terrible.  Not just because he was a bad coach, which he was, but because they needed to make a clean break from the McGuire years.

In retrospect, hiring Dukiet was the best thing to happen to Marquette basketball.  It didn't seem like it at the time, but it at least woke the old boys up to the fact that it wasn't the 1970s any longer.  If they would have hired a fairly decent coach, there is no Kevin O'Neill.  And with no O'Neill, we might be watching conference games against Butler.

Sultan, you been rolling in those cow chips out in South Wayne too long? You have to be kidding me?

Dukiet was indicative of a problem Marquette was having at the time. From 1977 until Dukiet trashed the program, Marquette was a destination stop. Sure we bungled the Hank thing (should have retired with Al) and Majerus wasn't ready, but we should have been able to recruit and retain a elite or soon-to-be elite basketball coach. We finally did that when KO came, but that should have been done 10 years earlier -- or more.

I don't know much about how the Jesuits and their charges managed the basketball program in the 1980s, but results speak for themselves. Something was terribly wrong and Dukiet was symptomatic of a malaise or an open hostility to basketball and Al's legacy.

You're probably right, by the way, on Ric Cobb. I liked the guy, a lot, but he hasn't done much since.

[Gato78]

After Newell said no, Hank offered to be the one year interim coach. The Athletic Board, responsible for the hiring, chose Dukiet after he got a strong endorsement from basketball people, particularly Billy Packer who some believed was a guy who knew what he was talking about. Blaming Hank for the fiasco is 100% misguided. It was the Athletic Board which blew that one.

[GGGG]

Sultan, you been rolling in those cow chips out in South Wayne too long? You have to be kidding me?

Dukiet was indicative of a problem Marquette was having at the time. From 1977 until Dukiet trashed the program, Marquette was a destination stop. Sure we bungled the Hank thing (should have retired with Al) and Majerus wasn't ready, but we should have been able to recruit and retain a elite or soon-to-be elite basketball coach. We finally did that when KO came, but that should have been done 10 years earlier -- or more.

I don't know much about how the Jesuits and their charges managed the basketball program in the 1980s, but results speak for themselves. Something was terribly wrong and Dukiet was symptomatic of a malaise or an open hostility to basketball and Al's legacy.

You're probably right, by the way, on Ric Cobb. I liked the guy, a lot, but he hasn't done much since.

My point is that the worst thing that could have happened to MU at the time was to hire some sort of fairly decent coach that would have kept the post season streak alive, but not really be all that competitive, and not forced MU to finally wake up. 

You are correct that the hiring of someone like KO should have occurred 10 years earlier...however if Dukiet would have been decent, it very likely wouldn't have happened for another 10 years.  And then frankly it just may have been too late for MU basketball.

[PJDunn]

I was a student during the fiasco and had no connections to the administration, but knew a few of the players pretty well.  Rick had lost the team and was in a complete tailspin.  He needed to go.  Definitely a great basketball mind (as evidenced by his successes), but MU in the early 80s was not the right fit for Rick.  I really believe that the Bucks job gave him a chance to catch his breath and re-focus on basketball away from the pressure cooker on Wisconsin Ave.  I will always root for the guy and still believe that he has at least one more deep NCAA run left.

[mu-rara]

Marquette was forced to hire Rick when the BADgers theatened to hire him as their HC.  In hindsight, would have been better to tell Rick to go learn the HC trade at a smaller school (Ball State) and come back when he was ready. 

[lurch91]

Having survived a few Dukiet years, but arriving after Rick had left, I've read that Rick just wasn't ready.  I can't imagine that he'd lock the team out of the Old Gym after canceling practice - and not telling the players on a sub zero February morning like Dukiet did.

[PJDunn]

Dukiet was a weird dude.  Rick was also a little "unique".  KO, the rat, too tan tommy, and Buzz all have some idiosyncrasies as well.  A thread chronicling the oddities of MU head coaches could easily last the balance of the summer.

[dgies9156]

After Newell said no, Hank offered to be the one year interim coach. The Athletic Board, responsible for the hiring, chose Dukiet after he got a strong endorsement from basketball people, particularly Billy Packer who some believed was a guy who knew what he was talking about. Blaming Hank for the fiasco is 100% misguided. It was the Athletic Board which blew that one.

Marquette's Jesuits in their infinite wisdom tried to catch lightening in bottle twice.

The first was when Frank McGuire recommended Al, who was coaching at little ole Belmont Abbey in North Carolina. Al had no real Division 1 Coaching Experience but came highly recommended.

If it worked once, why not again with Bob Dukiet? I suppose that was the conventional wisdom at O'Hara Hall at the time. About the only explanation for it.

In time, Marquette woke up and began doing national searches. If they'd done so in 1977 or in 1983, they never would have lost a beat. Heck, I suppose that in 1977, we probably could have had Coach K because, heck, we could have had anyone!

But as I have hinted before, it is my educated guess (I do have a Marquette degree after all) that there was a serious animosity underway between the educational side of Marquette, which was comparatively unnoticed by the world at large, and the athletic program, which was noticed by everyone!

Going cheap, which they did with Dukiet, is a means of putting balm on the wounds of professorial egos. Instead, they almost embalmed the basketball program.

[Lennys Tap]

Wow. In short order Marquette dropped from the #2 basketball program in the country  (much higher than our current spot) to a place several rungs BELOW the SLUs of the world?  No freakin way. Absolutely impossible! And I'm sure if there had been an internet in the 80s, Hoop would have told us so.

[Tugg Speedman]

Dukiet was a weird dude.  Rick was also a little "unique".  KO, the rat, too tan tommy, and Buzz all have some idiosyncrasies as well.  A thread chronicling the oddities of MU head coaches could easily last the balance of the summer.

You skipped Mike Deane.  Was that on purpose?

[Dr. Blackheart]

And I'm sure if there had been an internet in the 80s, Hoop would have told us so.

Invented in 1969 on the Golden Coast , the year of MU's NIT Championship and the start of an incredible basketball run. Pretty sure there was a backyard summit with Al Gore and the boys for the initial message sent:  "Login:  Al needs 5 years"

[Goose]

Gato
I will give you at least Hank did not jump on the interim job. Thankfully people in the know talked him out of that. Hank was overmatched as coach and AD and we needed stronger leader at the time. That said, always will respect Hank and appreciate hi role in our history.

MU ra ra
It was more that anyone other than Hank should have th job which led to Rick's hiring. Hank was sliding quickly and replacing him with Rick was easier sell to him.

[Gato78]

Goose:

I think Hank as a one year interim was far, far better than even a two week Bob Dukiet reign--much less the 3 year reign of terror. Dukiet had entre to many top shelf recruits--and turned every one of them off. David Booth was one who was highly rated who said Dukiet absolutely turned him off.  There were other really good players who said the same things (there was a really good big man who said same-Terry Mills maybe?) Rick was considered THE hot assistant coach in the country. Had to make him head coach in waiting and nudge Hank to  retire which was the right move at the time. Rick just couldn't handle the pressure. Fans turned on him when he downgraded the schedule for wins and then had trouble winning. Truth is it was a gradual slide from Al to Hank to Rick. But Dukiet was a complete disaster--and to think Dukiet thought MU gave him a raw deal. Sheesh!

[4everwarriors]

As a basketball coach, Dukiet was a hell of a van driver for Gannon.