Majerus to Sit Out Season Because of Mother’s Health

Utah basketball Coach Rick Majerus is leaving his team for the rest of the season to be with his ailing mother.

The time away from the Utes will also allow the 52-year-old Majerus to recover from his own health problems.

The announcement Tuesday came a week after Majerus underwent a procedure to clear two blocked coronary arteries.

Majerus is planning to return to coaching for the 2001-02 season. But for now, he said during a teary news conference, he plans to be at his mother’s side in Milwaukee. His mother has been diagnosed with lung cancer.

“My mother isn’t doing so well,” Majerus said, choking up. “We’re a very small family. My father is deceased. I am an only son. I have the time and the financial resources to be as supportive as I need to be.”

Majerus checked out of LDS Hospital on Sunday after a one-week stay.

Majerus has a history of heart problems. He missed all but the first six games of the 1989-90 season, his first at Utah, after undergoing septuple-bypass surgery.

The Utes have seen their national prominence rise since Majerus arrived before the 1989-90 seasons, highlighted by a loss to Kentucky in the 1998 NCAA title game.

He left this season’s team in mid-November, after coaching in a season-opening victory over Idaho State, to devote himself to rehabilitating his right knee.

Majerus had arthroscopic surgery on the knee in September, but didn’t heed doctor’s orders to take a break from basketball. He immediately hit the recruiting trail and took his usual active role on the practice floor, and the knee didn’t heal properly.

He spent the next six weeks with a special trainer in Las Vegas and planned to rejoin the team during the first week of the year. But on New Year’s Day, he complained of chest pains and was hospitalized.

In his absence, the Utes have been coached by assistant Dick Hunsaker, who will continue in that capacity. Utah is 9-6 after opening Mountain West Conference play with an 83-71 victory over Wyoming on Monday night.

“It’s in the best interest of the team for the coach not to be in contact with the team while he’s away,” Utah Athletic Director Chris Hill said. “Coach Hunsaker will be in charge of the show.”

Utah has made eight consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament under Majerus, who has never lost a first-round NCAA game during his time with the Utes.