Majerus Wants Out of Atlantic 10

By Trashtalk Superstar


In April, Rick Majerus was named the men's basketball coach at Saint Louis University. Now Majerus wants SLU to leave the Atlantic 10 conference.

And he's taking his case to the media. Majerus hasn't even coached a game at his new institution and he's already stirring controversy.

Drive and Dish has always respected and admired Majerus for his coaching ability. The guy is very good at what he does. But he's a loose cannon. You never know what he's going to say or do next. That - along with questions about his weight, health and lifestyle - is probably why he never landed a top tier coaching job. Yes, Majerus took the University of Utah to the Final Four, but it was with a once in a generation type Utah team. Utah was never going to be in danger of becoming an elite college basketball program. Word had it that Majerus always coveted a Big Ten coaching position. He was/is certainly good enough to coach in the Big Ten. But Big Ten institutions never seemed to be very interested in Majerus.

So now, after being USC's head coach for a few days (before abruptly resigning), Majerus is coaching the Saint Louis Billikens. And he's not thrilled about SLU's membership in the Atlantic 10.

Key lines:

"Majerus made it clear he isn't overjoyed by SLU being in the A-10; he doesn't like the 14-team configuration or the geography. SLU, unlike East-based conference members, can't take a bus to any conference road game.

'The thing I don't like about these large leagues is that there's an innate unfairness to it,' he said. 'Secondly, the demographics of it, particularly for St. Louis, are very perplexing, to say the least.'"

St. Louis is, indeed, in a strange position. Former members of the now defunct Metro and Great Midwest conferences, the Billikens were a charter member of Conference USA. They stayed in Conference USA until its recent split-up (remember- Louisville, Cincinnati, DePaul, Marquette and South Florida left C-USA for the Big East). Instead of maintaining their affiliation with the de-fanged Conference USA, St. Louis headed for the Atlantic 10. In doing so, the Billikens went from a high major conference to a glorified mid major conference.

St. Louis had struggled to make its mark (save for Charlie Spoonhour's 1998 team that featured Larry Hughes) in Conference USA. Moving to the A-10 appeared to make some sense because, while the A-10 is an outstanding basketball league, the level of competition is a step down from what the Billikens faced in Conference USA during its heyday.

Thus, it appeared that St. Louis was joining a good league in which it could finally make some headway. And the fact that the A-10 had several non football playing Catholic Universities as members probably didn't hurt either. So even though there would be no traditional or regional rivalries for St. Louis in the A-10, it looked like a good fit for the Billikens because they would be able to establish new rivalries with similar urban Catholic institutions.

But the fact is that the Atlantic 10 is primarily an Eastern seaboard league. That wouldn't be bad for St. Louis if they were merely looking to increase their national exposure, but it's a tough fit for them when it comes to travel considerations. And while it's true that Conference USA had member institutions spread throughout the country, they still had a core of schools that were in relative close proximity to St. Louis. Memphis, Cincinnati, Louisville, Chicago and even Milwaukee were easy for the Billikens to travel to. However, in the Atlantic 10, the only schools near St. Louis are Dayton and Xavier (Cincinnati, OH). All the other member institutions are on the East Coast. And that's enough to make a season's worth of travel very taxing for the Billikens.

But the impetus for this post isn't to consider the merits of St. Louis' affiliation with the Atlantic 10 conference. This post is about Rick Majerus' behavior vis a vis his comments in the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

Rick Majerus was a good hire for St. Louis because he's a proven coach who has a high profile nationally. St. Louis wants to win and it wants to get some exposure. Rick Majerus won't ever shy away from a camera. But Majerus needs to be more careful when voicing his opinions. Rick Majerus might not be wrong to question SLU's conference affiliation, but he shouldn't do it publicly. Those conversations are best left behind closed athletic department and administrative doors. If Majerus wants to leave the Atlantic 10, he should talk to his Athletic Director and to the President of the university. But by taking his case to a St. Louis Post Dispatch sports writer, Rick Majerus makes his university, his athletic department and -ultimately- himself look bad.