Atlantic 10 Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)

By Joey Loose | Jul 18, 2020

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 12: A general view of the Barclay Center prior to the start of the 2020 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Tournament - Second Round on March 12, 2020 in the Brooklyn Borough of New York City. Tournament games will be played without fans amid growing concerns of the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus). (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

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DAYTON, OH – JANUARY 4: Saint Louis Billikens head coach Rick Majerus (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

9. Rick Majerus – Saint Louis (2007-2012)

By the time Majerus was named Saint Louis’s head coach in 2007, he had already led an incredible career, with his greatest success at Utah. He had been all over, including a stint as head coach at Marquette, but leading the Utes to the national championship game in 1998 was a remarkable feat. Health issues greatly impacted his coaching career, but they didn’t slow him down enough to have one last shot with the Billikens.

Why Majerus stands out isn’t so much for what he accomplished with the Billikens, but for the success he built with the team. True, he led them to their first NCAA Tournament in nearly a decade, winning 26 games in his final season. They became an Atlantic 10 contender because of his coaching and recruiting, slowly building back into promise.

Majerus died in 2012, though successor and former assistant Jim Crews led this Saint Louis program to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments, continuing the momentum with the players Majerus had recruited. His impact on and off the court was phenomenal and he will be remembered for his accomplishments with the Utes and during his short time in the Atlantic 10.

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