Rick Majerus still wants out of the Atlantic-10

[Da Coach]

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/berniemiklasz/story/9F7A631690B838AF862573810010B5D2?OpenDocument

Scroll down to below the section about the St. Louis Rams. There is a brief blurb about Rick Majerus and some things he said at the Atlantic-10 Media Day. On a day when everything is usually all positive about your team and conference, Majerus took a shot at the Atlantic-10 and the geographical isolation of St. Louis University.

Here are the teams in the A-10:
Massachusetts
Xavier
George Washington
Fordham
Rhode Island
Saint Joseph's
Dayton
Saint Louis
Charlotte
Duquesne
Temple
Richmond
St. Bonaventure
La Salle

11 of the 13 other teams are in states that border the Atlantic Ocean and that represent trips of nearly 1000 miles each for St. Louis.
The other 2 teams are in Ohio (Dayton and Xavier in Cincinnati), and even those 2 are long trips. And none of those schools are natural or historical rivals for SLU. It sounds like Majerus is still serious about getting out of the A-10. He has spoken publically that he would like St. Louis to look into re-joining the MVC.

Clip from the article--
During the Atlantic 10 Media Day, St. Louis U. basketball coach Rick Majerus had this to say about Rev. Lawrence Biondi, the SLU president: "I've got a Jesuit education, so I understand that. I like the priest (Biondi). He's a bit like myself. Kind of a different breed of cat. I mean that affectionately. No one checks all the boxes, I don't care who it is." Also, Majerus made it clear he isn't overjoyed by SLU being in the A-10; he doesn't like the 14-team configuration or the geography. SLU, unlike East-based conference members, can't take a bus to any conference road game. "The thing I don't like about these large leagues is that there's an innate unfairness to it," he said. "Secondly, the demographics of it, particularly for St. Louis, are very perplexing, to say the least."

[BU ICEMAN]

Really not a smart decision on his part to put this out in the media....

This opinion is something that's best kept to himself. The conference bigshots can't be too happy about his talking smack.

By the way Rick, did you miss this little bit of info when you were thinking about taking the job? Or....do you know more about SLU leaving the A-10 than you're letting on, so you took the job knowing that might change?????

[tornado]

What a pompous guy, even before he coaches a game at Saint Louis,
he's insulting the University president, whining about how unfair the whole situation is,
and complaining about the league he's in. Is he expecting this will endear him to the other teams?

[MacabreMob]

While living in the Cincy area during a time when Xavier and Creighton played each other... many Xavier fans expressed to me how much they liked the fact that Jesuit schools were playing each other.

Any chance Creighton, SLU and Xavier want to be together? ...in the MVC?

[tornado]

Why not a big, national Catholic Conference with Xavier, SLU, Notre Dame, Marquette, Gonzaga, USC, etc....

[Dallas Brave]

Why not a big, national Catholic Conference with Xavier, SLU, Notre Dame, Marquette, Gonzaga, USC, etc....

plus Creighton?

[Dallas Brave]

What a pompous guy, even before he coaches a game at Saint Louis,
he's insulting the University president, whining about how unfair the whole situation is,
and complaining about the league he's in. Is he expecting this will endear him to the other teams?

I won't defend RM, he is stage grabber. But, I wonder if he has been pushing the "get out of the A-10" agenda internally since he arrived and is hitting a brick wall. I suppose there are some administrators at SLU who would be embarrassed if they pulled out of the A-10 and might be giving RM a wink and a smile but ignoring his argument. So RM took his message public. Personally, I think it is ridiculous for SLU to have joined the A-10 and said so many times a few years back when the decision was announced. Now is the time for the MVC to go after SLU and Butler. If Butler isn't interested, then get Dayton.

[Da Coach]

I know there are many reasons why SLU could benefit the MVC. But I have heard that the current members of the MVC as well as the execs at the MVC office are not so enthused about it.
I suspect that Majerus, as pushy as he is, may already have done some checking into the MVC's inerest in SLU and found this out.

[amckillip]

I know there are many reasons why SLU could benefit the MVC. But I have heard that the current members of the MVC as well as the execs at the MVC office are not so enthused about it.
I suspect that Majerus, as pushy as he is, may already have done some checking into the MVC's inerest in SLU and found this out.

I agree I'd much rather add Butler than SLU, if we need to add anyone at all. I'm more in favor of maybe switching, because I don't want to get to a point where we don't play every team twice...

[thefish7]

I agree, amckillip. I love the balanced schedule, and don't think that'd really be possible with 11 or 12 teams, without decreasing the number of non-conference games that get scheduled. (Not sure if there are rules on max number of games allowed and the like)

I also, can't for the life of me, figure out any teams I don't "want" in the MVC. Drake has been down the longest, I think, but they're also like the oldest actual member.

[SFP]

SLU would be in the largest market if they joined the MVC. This could only help the conference. Dayton would not be bad due to their close proximity to Cincinati. At the same time why not go after Memphis. If anyone here is hoping for a MVC TV deal then we need a few large market teams. Depaul is in the Big East only because they are in Chicago!

[houstonbrave]

Yeah-I agree SLU or Dayton would be good additions. I am not so hot on Memphis-they always seem to be on the fringe of some sort of sanctions and never seem to graduate anybody-at least that is my perception. However, I would want no part of an unbalanced schedule-there are a lot of inequalities introduced whenever you go to an unbalanced schedule.

So, the problem is I would not add anyone unless someone leaves and I am not crazy about shoving anybody out the door. Drake has been down for quite a while but they have been in the Valley the longest. After that you think about Evansville, In State ?? I just wouldn't do it. Back in the 70's when we were in a down period they probably thought about getting rid of us...and it would have felt pretty crummy. It might serve our interests in the short term but I just wouldn't push anyone out the door-it does not feel right.

[houstontxbrave]

Doubt Memphis would even consider the Valley since they play D1 football and I doubt Conference USA would let them play only football but not basketball.

[Scouter]

I agree I'd much rather add Butler than SLU, if we need to add anyone at all.

Just curious as to why Butler over SLU?

[SFP]

What I like about Memphis is that they have a great fan base and Memphis is a large market. At the NCAA Sweet 16 their fans reminded me of our fans except they wore blue. Even their discussion boards are very cordial and polite. Would I want to push someone out? No. It just does not feel right and the right thing should always be what we do. It should not always be about the bottom line.