20 years ago: Majerus to have open-heart surgery

In a brief, 10-minute meeting with his Utah basketball players, Rick Majerus, the Utes' intense, overweight, first-year head coach, dropped a bombshell: He needed to undergo open-heart surgery Thursday morning and would be unable to coach them for the remainder of the season. The 41-year-old Majerus, who experienced chest pains following the Utes' Nov. 30 Purdue game, will have the surgery at LDS Hospital. Dr. Kent Jones, who is president of the school's booster club organization, will head the surgical team that will operate on Majerus.

Assistant coach Joe Cravens, who will assume Majerus' coaching duties, learned of the surgery when Majerus summoned him to his Salt Lake hotel room Monday evening. "He tried to put it off, but the doctor wouldn't let him," said Cravens.