Colleagues react to Majerus news
"My initial reaction is I'm shocked," said Meyer, who planned to call Majerus and see how he's doing.
Meyer spoke with Majerus a couple of times during the football season. The coaches developed a friendship highlighted by a two-hour conversation over dinner following Utah's 47-35 loss at home to New Mexico in October.
Majerus initiated the meeting — telling Meyer he wanted to support him through tough times as well as the good.
"It was one of the best talks I've ever had with a coach," recalled Meyer, who noted that the Utes bounced back the next week to defeat Air Force in triple overtime.
Always eager to learn from successful coaches, Meyer, a self-described college basketball junkie, has plenty of respect for Majerus.
"Obviously he's a proven winner," Meyer said. "Year in and year out."
A sampling of other reactions to Majerus' health problems and resignation:
ANDRE MILLER, former Ute star and current Denver Nuggets point guard: "I'm going to give him a call and see how he's doing. You never want to think about anything bad happening. You just want to pray for him. Hopefully, he can stay in good health. But it's something that he's had to deal with a long time. . . It's (basketball) his life. He's always going to be connected to basketball. Even if he did retire and take time off, it's for a good reason."
CRAIG THOMPSON, Mountain West Conference commissioner: "First and foremost, our thoughts and wishes are with Rick to make a speedy and healthy recovery. Rick has been a tremendous asset to Mountain West Conference men's basketball and we wish him the best in whatever the future holds."
JOE CRAVENS, Weber State head coach and a former Majerus assistant: "I hope he's OK. I hope it's not a life-threatening situation. . . I think we all saw it coming, but hoped it wouldn't."
STEVE CLEVELAND, BYU head coach: "The Mountain West Conference loses one of its premier coaches, a man who's had a great deal of success. I don't have a personal relationship with Rick. I think we have mutual respect for one another, but one thing I do respect about Rick is for 10 years or so he's had a target on his back and year in and year out he's been consistently good. Unless you've been in this business I don't think you can really understand and appreciate what it's like to have a target on your back. We've had a sense and feeling for that this season and we've handled it at times well and sometimes not so well. That's what I respect about his teams. They never beat themselves. They play very unselfishly. He had great players and he got the most out of them."
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