COLLEGE BASKETBALL : Majerus Wonders How His Overachieving Utes Are No. 20

Silly us. We thought Utah, with its 17-1 record, 14-game winning streak and No. 20 ranking, was a team worth watching come NCAA tournament time.

Then we talked with Utah Coach Rick Majerus.

“It’s so unbelievable,” he said. “Anybody who thinks we’re a top 20 team doesn’t own a TV set.”

Majerus happily pointed out that he purposely padded his early season schedule; that his backup center was a 6-foot-10 Tongan who didn’t wear shoes until age 7; that one of his point guards was as thin as a crowbar and as tall as Michael J. Fox; that his starting center was on the Heath Bar Crunch diet, which is to say he weighed more than 300 pounds; that his playing rotation sometimes included two walk-ons straight from the Utah student body.

And one other item: Majerus missed almost all of last season because of heart bypass surgery.

“But, hey, I’m glad to be back,” Majerus said. “It beats the alternative.”

Majerus, 42, has lost 45 pounds, curtailed his burrito and pizza binges and made it a point to exercise every day. After all, he said, how many times do you get a second chance at life?

“I just took good health for granted,” he said. “But it really wasn’t that severe. I’m not trying to minimize (the operation). When I was in the hospital, I knew I was getting out eventually. When I came out of surgery, everyone in that hospital had a lot harder story than I had.”

Marjerus had coached the Utes to a 4-2 record when doctors discovered the heart ailment in December of 1989. University President Chase Petersen, a physician, sought two more medical opinions on behalf of his new coach and also approved the immediate rollover of Majerus’ contract--a classy gesture. Utah assistant Joe Cravens was named temporary head coach.

“They couldn’t have been kinder,” Majerus said.

Utah finished 16-14, including a 7-9 record in the Western Athletic Conference. A similar-to-worse performance was expected this year, what with only two starters returning. Reporters went so far to pick Utah to finish sixth.

But Utah won 17 of its first 18 games. And if the Utes beat Colorado State and Air Force this week, they tie the school record for consecutive victories (16).

Majerus has done this sort of thing before. His two-year record at Ball State was 43-17, including a 29-3 season in 1988-89. Before that, he was 56-35 at Marquette.

This time, he has built his team around 6-foot-10 forward Josh Grant, who averages 17 points. His center, Walter Watts, slimmed to 260 pounds. “He was the only guy to weigh more than I did,” Majerus said. Paul Afeaki, of Nukalosa, Tonga, is a junior college transfer who backs up Watts.

As for the rest of the team, forward M’Kay McGrath and guards Byron Wilson and Tyrone Tate complete the starting lineup. Jimmy Soto (5-7, 155 pounds) is usually the first point guard off the bench. “He weighs what one of my thighs did,” Majerus said.

Majerus also doesn’t bolt his non-scholarship players to the bench. He has five walk-ons, three of whom dress for the games, two of whom play on occasion. Because of a lack of uniforms and because they take turns appearing on the game day rosters, the three walk-ons don’t have their names on their game jerseys.

“I hope we can go to the (NCAA) tournament, so we can afford to buy those other players some uniforms,” Majerus said.

Not to worry--Utah will be an NCAA invitee. In the meantime, Majerus enjoys each wonderful moment of a surprising season. A bachelor, he lives in a Salt Lake City hotel located on campus. He goes nowhere without a basketball in his car, plays in pick-up games around town and considers himself a master of setting screens.

But can he match Ohio State’s Randy Ayers, supposedly the only Division I head coach who can dunk a ball?

“No, but I can dunk a doughnut better than anyone,” he said.

Quick now, who has the best record among the independents?

DePaul? Nope, the Blue Demons are 8-7. Notre Dame? You must be joking--the Irish are 7-10 with a chance of finishing with 20 losses. Miami? The Hurricanes are 3-14.

The answer is Southern Utah, which should tell you a lot about the sorry state of independent basketball. In fact, said DePaul’s Joey Meyer, the days of the independent are dwindling.

“I think we could have held off a couple more years, but it was numbered there,” said Meyer, a member of the DePaul program since 1968.

DePaul joins the newly formed Great Midwest Conference next season. The decision was dictated partly by scheduling problems and NCAA considerations.

“From a financial standpoint, we still might be better off making a tournament (as an independent),” Meyer said. “But in the long haul, the difficulties in scheduling and having no voice in the NCAA had to be addressed.”

Meyer’s point: At regular season’s end, independents have a hard time finding conference teams willing to schedule them. “Come crunch time in a conference, they don’t like to play a Notre Dame or DePaul,” Meyer said. “Though, the way we’re going this year, maybe they do want to play us.”

Not surprisingly, the only opponent DePaul could find for its season finale was Notre Dame.

Another disadvantage is the limited role the independents play in the NCAA power structure. Conferences wield much of the clout.

“In the long run, we have to go to a conference,” Meyer said.

Notre Dame will stay put, although the Great Midwest, the Big East and maybe even the Big Ten would love to have the Irish. Unlike DePaul, Notre Dame has an easier time finding opponents, except near season’s end.

Still, indications are that the Irish would at least listen to a conference offer. But with a profitable television arrangement that includes six network appearances, three ESPN showings and 14 SportsChannel appearances, the Irish don’t need a conference to survive.

“Of course, if all those things were to disappear, we’d look at it harder,” Notre Dame sports information director John Heisler said.

In its upset of 16th-ranked Louisiana State, Tennessee held --if you can call it that--Tiger center Shaquille O’Neal to a season-low 11 rebounds and 18 points, his third-lowest total of the year. “I just decided that I wasn’t going to let Shaquille and (guard Mike) Hansen beat us,” Tennessee Coach Wade Houston said. “Let those other guys beat us. At this level, you can afford to do some trick defenses. But to try to guard (O’Neal) one-on-one is frightening.” Look for Florida, which plays LSU next, to try the same thing against O’Neal, who leads the nation in rebounding (15 per game), ranks 10th in scoring (27.3) and fourth in blocks (5.2). . . . After a 16-1 start, Nebraska could be 16-4 by the end of the month and 16-6 by Feb. 6. The Cornhuskers lost to Colorado on Tuesday, play at Oklahoma on Saturday, play Missouri next Wednesday and then face Oklahoma State and Kansas to start February. Oklahoma will be in an ugly mood, after its loss to Southwestern Louisiana. . . . Maybe we’re not giving the American South Conference enough credit. Southwestern Louisiana is 12-5 but only 1-4 in conference play. New Orleans leads the conference with a 5-0 record, 15-2 overall. The Privateers beat Virginia and Oregon State this season.

The scene: Indiana’s Assembly Hall shortly before the start of Monday night’s Indiana-Ohio State game. The Hoosiers have taken the court when a scout from an opposing Big Ten school notices Coach Bobby Knight make his way out of the tunnel. “Here comes god,” the scout mutters. Sure enough, the crowd all but gives Knight a standing ovation. . . . Asked to choose between Indiana star Calbert Cheaney and Ohio State’s Jim Jackson, the scout took Jackson--but just barely. . . . The apprenticeship of Indiana freshman guard Damon Bailey may be nearing its end. Bailey didn’t start against the Buckeyes but ended up scoring 16 points, added five assists and blocked a would-be shot by muscular center Perry Carter. Bailey, who played 31 minutes, should be back in the starting lineup soon.

The Providence sports information office has dubbed senior guard Eric Murdock “the Man of Steal.” Murdock is 12 steals shy of the NCAA record held by Michael Anderson of Drexel (341). Murdock, one of the 50 finalists for the Wooden Award, scored 48 points, a Big East record, in a loss to Pitt Wednesday. He also has scored 30 or more points in 11 of his last 13 games. His 31.7 scoring average is one of the reasons the Friars are 12-7 and in the thick of the Big East race. “I thought we’d be a pretty good team by the end of January,” Coach Rick Barnes said. “The winner of this league could win with a 10-6 record. We’ll have teams with 6-10 records and they should be in the NCAA tournament. It’s that good of a league.”

Majerus on O’Neal: “He could be the first $100-million player.” Majerus on Brigham Young’s 7-6 center Shawn Bradley: “I recruited Ralph Sampson when I was at Marquette. (Bradley) is better than Ralph Sampson was.”

Our Top 10: 1) Nevada Las Vegas, 2) Arkansas, 3) Ohio State, 4) North Carolina, 5) Arizona, 6) Syracuse, 7) Kentucky, 8) St. John’s, 9) Indiana, 10) Duke.

Our waiting list: UCLA, Utah, Southern Mississippi, Pittsburgh, New Mexico State and Michigan State.