BROOKLYN — Last February, after St. Louis lost a tough Atlantic 10 game at Rhode Island, Jim Crews piled into the back seat of a car driven by another St. Louis assistant.
Head coach Rick Majerus got into the front seat and, without turning around to face Crews, said, “I’ll bet you’re glad you’re not the head coach.”
Crews, who had been thinking that exact thought 15 minutes earlier, burst into laughter and told Majerus, “Yeah, you’re right. I’m glad I’m not the head coach.”
Ironic how things work out sometimes.
Now Crews is the interim head coach of a Billikens team picked to finish second behind St. Joe’s in the A-10.
Crews, an owner of 354 career wins in 24 head-coaching campaigns at Army and Evansville, ascended to that role in August after it was announced that Majerus would take a leave of absence as he undergoes evaluation and treatment for a heart condition.
“You got more responsibilities in terms of the concern and everything that goes along with it,” he said at A-10 media day Thursday. “But it’s been good. The administration has been great, the players have been great. In a thing that starts out a very negative, that’s so much positive that’s being seen and felt within.”
Crews said he has no contact with Majerus, 64, who previously served as head coach at Ball State and Utah.
“I don’t have an update [on his health],” Crews said. “They closed the ranks on that. I have not had contact with Rick for a long time.”
Still, Majerus was in everybody’s thoughts on Thursday.
St. Joe’s head coach Phil Martelli, speaking for all 16 A-10 coaches during a luncheon, asked the St. Louis contingent to wish Majerus their best wishes.
Last year, Majerus led St. Louis to a 26-8 record. After beating Memphis, the Billikens lost to Michigan State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Billikens lost just two letterwinners from last year’s squad and return senior guard Kwamain Mitchell, a first-team preseason All-A-10 player, as well as junior guard Jordair Jett, who made the All-Defensive Team.
Crews said the team’s age and experience has helped them cope with Majerus’s absence.
“I think they’ve done really well because they’re close knit and relationship-based,” Crews said. “We’ve got older guys so that probably helped, too.”
It also helps that Crews played for Bob Knight at Indiana, going 32-0 as a senior, has his own impressive resume to fall back on and is familiar with Majerus’s system and personnel.
“Coach Crews has an unbelievable mind for the game,” said Xavier coach Chris Mack, who played for Crews at Evansville. “He’s taught me more than a lot of people I’ve been around in basketball.
“They’re going to miss [Majerus] because he’s a Hall of Fame coach but they’re not handing over the reins to a JV coach, that’s for sure.”
Mack said he recalls Crews as being “fiery” in the day but has heard “that he’s mellowed over the years.”
“I think St. Louis is in really good hands,” Mack said. “They’ve got a great team. They’ve got very, very high-level talent. Coach Crews will get them playing extremely hard.”
