Columnist Steve Carp: For Majerus, the game is still on tap

Steve Carp

Tuesday, March 24, 1998 | 8:42 a.m.

EVERY YEAR, Rick Majerus spends part of his time at the Final Four participating in a pickup basketball game.

It's a fun game with Majerus and a few of his buddies, which sometimes includes the likes of Kevin Costner and Jaleel White, who plays the geek Erkel on the TV show "Family Matters." Usually, Majerus has time to play because he goes to the Final Four to eat, shoot the breeze and set some picks.

But what happens when you're no longer a spectator at the Final Four and you're a participant?

If you're the Utah coach, nothing changes.

"The game's still on," he said while watching film of North Carolina in his suite at the University Park Hotel in Salt Lake City Sunday. "I've got my friends coming down, I've got to work out anyway, so I'm going to play ball."

And you can bet come Saturday at the Alamodome, Majerus' 29-3 team is going to be ready to play some ball.

If there were any lingering doubts about Majerus as a coach, they were put to rest at the Pond in Anaheim Saturday afternoon. The Utes, who are a man-to-man defensive team, switched up and went with a gimmicky triangle-and-two to try to limit the effectiveness of Mike Bibby, Arizona's All-America point guard.

The defense, which is called "66," provided Majerus' team and its fans with plenty of kicks to cover the distance from Temple Square to the Riverwalk. Meanwhile, Lute Olson still is trying to figure out when he should make an adjustment.

"You go into every game with a plan," Majerus said. "They don't always work, but you've got to credit our kids with executing. We had to take Bibby out of the game and our guys did a great job."

It is gratifying to see Majerus get his moment in the sun. He is one of college basketball's truly good guys and he has paid his dues. He has given to the game. And now, he gets something back, a chance at the brass ring.

"It's unbelievable," he said. "I thought when Keith (Van Horn) left, our chances of ever getting to the Final Four went with him. But I've got a great group of kids and I'm very happy for them."

Van Horn, now a rookie star in the NBA with New Jersey, is happy for his college coach. He called Majerus Saturday. So did Al McGuire, his mentor at Marquette.

And the phone never stopped ringing. Colleagues. Relatives. Former players. Friends. People like Steve and Elaine Wynn, who are big fans of Majerus, called to offer their congratulations.

"It's been a lot of fun," Majerus said of the past 48 hours. "The only thing I wish was my dad was here to see this."

But his mom will be in San Antonio, as will many of his close friends. Most of all, he'll have his team with him. And this time he gets the best seat in the house.

"I don't want to just show up," he said of his maiden voyage to the Final Four as a participant. "I want to win it. Or at least try to win it."

And with that, he cut the phone call short and returned to the Carolina tape. This year, he has bigger concerns at the Final Four than trying to set a screen to free up Erkel for a jumper.