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Sunday, January 7, 2001
No timetable for Majerus' return to Utes
ESPN.com news services
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SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah head basketball coach Rick Majerus, who had two
blocked arteries cleared Tuesday, had a follow-up procedure
Wednesday.
Majerus has been away from the team since mid-November while
rehabilitating from knee surgery. He had marked Wednesday's game
against Long Beach State for his return before his most recent
heart troubles.
Wednesday, surgeons at LDS Hospital closed a puncture wound in
one of the arteries involved in Tuesday's procedure.
"We all just want coach Majerus to get healthy," acting coach Dick Hunsaker said after Utah's 80-67 win
over Long Beach State on Wednesday night. "That's the main
thing. But he would have been proud of the emotion we played with
tonight."
Majerus probably will be released from the hospital by Sunday. No timetable has been set for Majerus' return to the team.
The Utes (8-6) were ranked No. 12 in mid-November and won their first
game under Majerus before struggling to a 6-6 record under Hunsaker.
"It's been tough on all of us," junior center Chris Burgess said. "We came to Utah to play for
coach Majerus. The coaches have done a great job in his absence but
we want coach back. But health comes first and we just want him to
get all the way better."
"We expected him to come back to the team this week and I hoped it would be the huge
boost we have been looking for," sophomore forward Britton Johnsen said. "So when he had the heart problems
it was a little bit of a letdown."
Majerus has a history of heart problems and was admitted to LDS
Hospital Monday after complaining of chest pains. He missed the
1989-90 season, his first at Utah, after bypass surgery in December 1989.
On Tuesday, he underwent a procedure in which catheters were
threaded into the arteries to clear them and stents -- wire
scaffold-like devices -- were inserted into the arteries to keep
them propped open.
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