Utah head coach Rick Majerus couldn’t dodge Miami (Ohio) in the second round of the Midwest Regional on Sunday in New Orleans, but he did a pretty good job of dodging questions about his future.
After the RedHawks had ended his Utes’ winning streak at 23 games and dumped last year’s NCAA runner-up from the tournament with a 66-58 victory, Majerus declined to address speculation he is high on a list of candidates to replace John MacLeod at Notre Dame.
“I can’t even think about that now,” Majerus said. “If somebody asked me to pick between heaven and hell, I’d choose heaven, but (a job offer) is the last thing I’m thinking about. The only thing I’m concerned about now is our loss.”
Majerus, however, is said to be intrigued with the possibility of coaching at Notre Dame. Officials there were hoping to receive some indication of his interest this week. ESPN reported that Majerus will meet with Notre Dame officials on Tuesday.
The ending of Utah’s season can bring about a more direct discussion. A person familiar with the internal discussion said a list of three to five names could be completed by Monday and formal requests to schools to conduct interviews would be made later this week.
His kind of guy: Temple point guard Pepe Sanchez had a splendid weekend in Boston, where he led the Owls to the round of 16. He opened his NCAA tourney by committing no turnovers in his 40 minutes against Kent and followed that by committing only three in 37 minutes against Cincinnati.
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“When Pepe’s not on the floor, everything’s wrong,” Temple coach John Chaney said. “But I should take the blame for that.
“All my life, I’ve put all my heart and all my soul into finding a good point guard. I just feel if you have a good point guard, you have a chance to win games. You need control of the engine, and if the point guard doesn’t buy into what you believe, it’s like a student in class ignoring the teacher. What do you get then? You get an `F.’ “
Langdon back: Duke’s Trajan Langdon didn’t look very rusty after a three-game layoff with a strained left foot. Langdon knocked down 4 of 9 shots from the floor, including 2 of 6 three-pointers, and scored 12 points in 26 minutes against Tulsa.
“It was very exciting to see him knock down that first three from the corner,” backcourt mate William Avery said. “But we didn’t miss his jump shot. We missed his voice and his leadership on the floor.”
Langdon’s return sent Corey Maggette back to the bench. But the freshman from Fenwick still had a big day with 11 points, six rebounds and four assists in 20 minutes.
Super sub: Although Morris Peterson is Michigan State’s top scorer with a 13.4 average, the junior forward made only his fourth start of the season when he replaced injured guard Charlie Bell in Sunday’s 74-66 victory over Mississippi.
Peterson delivered 11 points and eight rebounds in 35 minutes. Bell, who sprained his left ankle Friday when the Spartans defeated Mt. St. Mary’s, came off the bench to collect five points in 14 minutes.
“Give Charlie a lot of credit,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “He made some critical defensive plays and he hit a critical three-point shot.”
Sentimental journey: For Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson, next weekend’s Sweet 16 game with Michigan State will have emotional overtones.
After graduating from Pembroke State, Sampson went to Michigan State for his master’s degree and spent the 1978-79 season as a graduate assistant under now-retired coach Jud Heathcote.
“I was a kid off the street from Pembroke, N.C., when I walked into Jud’s office and asked if I could do something with his basketball program that year,” Sampson said. “He made me a graduate assistant when I didn’t know what a graduate assistant was. Jud gave a kid a chance when nobody else would.”