• Majerus not ready for USC • Oklahoma State moves to No. 3 in Top 25 • Utah creeps into Women’s Top 25 Majerus not ready for USC Rick Majerus apologized Monday for backing out of the Southern California Trojans’
• Majerus not ready for USC
• Oklahoma State moves to No. 3 in Top 25
• Utah creeps into Women’s Top 25
Majerus not ready for USC
Rick Majerus apologized Monday for backing out of the Southern California Trojans’ basketball job less than a week after accepting it, saying he realized his health wouldn’t allow him to put in the marathon work days he has in the past.
“I realized they weren’t getting the guy they hired. I’m not fit enough for this job for my standards.”
Majerus said he didn’t think he was being fair to the players or athletic director Mike Garrett.
Majerus, 56, has had heart problems and an ongoing battle with his weight, which has been around 370 pounds. He cited health concerns when he retired as Utah’s coach last January after 15 seasons. He has been working as an analyst for ESPN.
Assistant Jim Saia, made the interim head coach after Henry Bibby was fired four games into the season, will remain in the post for the rest of this season, Garrett said. Majerus was not scheduled to take over until April 1, although he was going to work on recruiting until then.
Garrett said the search for a coach will resume, although he has set no timetable.
Oklahoma State moves to No. 3 in Top 25
Oklahoma State received its highest ranking in over 12 years, moving up one spot Monday to No. 3 in The Associated Press college basketball poll while Illinois and Kansas were the top two teams for the third straight week.
In the latest poll, Oklahoma State replaced Georgia Tech, which dropped to ninth following its first loss of the season.
Illinois (10-0), which beat Valparaiso 93-56 in its only game last week, received 50 first-place votes and 1,727 points from the national media panel to hold on to No. 1.
Kansas (7-0) beat South Carolina 64-60 in its only game last week. The Jayhawks were No. 1 on 15 ballots and had 1,658 points.
Oklahoma State (8-0) beat UNLV 79-67 last week and received the other five first-place votes.
North Carolina, Wake Forest, Duke, Syracuse and Kentucky all moved up one place from last week and were ranked fourth through eighth.
Georgia Tech, which lost 85-73 to Gonzaga at Las Vegas, had the week’s biggest drop, falling six spots.
Utah creeps into Women’s Top 25
Utah took advantage of several losses by Top 25 teams and squeezed back into The Associated Press women’s basketball poll Monday while LSU remained a unanimous No. 1.
There was some shuffling after five ranked teams lost to unranked opponents during the past week, but Utah was the only newcomer.
Arizona State, which had been 23rd, dropped out after being ranked for just one week.
LSU (10-0) beat No. 13 Minnesota and Southwest Missouri State during a swing through the Midwest and received all 45 first-place votes from a national media panel.
It was the fourth straight No. 1 ranking for the Lady Tigers and the third consecutive time they’ve been unanimous.
