NEW YORK - Rick Majerus backed out of a deal to become Southern Cal's coach days after his hiring, and he will stay at ESPN as a college basketball analyst.
"Rick expressed to us that he had a change of heart and wondered if the possibility still existed for him to work for ESPN. And it does," ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said Saturday night. "We told him he could (return)."
Majerus, who cited health reasons when he retired in January after 15 seasons as Utah's coach, was announced as Trojans coach Wednesday. He was to assume the post April 1.
"We plan to meet with Rick on Monday. Until then, there's really nothing we can say," USC athletic director Mike Garrett said in a statement.
USC spokesman Tim Tessalone said the meeting had already been planned.
Until taking over, Majerus was supposed to serve on the staff and work on recruiting, filling the assistant's job vacated when Jim Saia was promoted to interim coach after Henry Bibby's firing.
At a campus news conference after his hiring, Majerus, 56, said he wasn't worried about his health.
"My health is good or I wouldn't do this," he said. "Both my doctors encouraged me to do it. I wouldn't put anyone, least of all myself, in harm's way."
UCLA coach Ben Howland was stunned when informed of Majerus' reversal.
"You're kidding me, right?" Howland said. "I hope and will pray it's not over health issues because that was always the biggest concern. That's surprising to me because I know from listening to him how excited he was to come back."
Top 25
NO. 8 SYRACUSE 74, DREXEL 54: Hakim Warrick scored 21 and Darryl Watkins had 14 points and 13 rebounds for his first career double double for the host Orange.
Syracuse won its second straight after a loss to No. 4 Oklahoma State and did it by dominating the boards, outrebounding the Dragons 44-17. The Orange allowed its fewest rebounds since Princeton managed 15 in a game during the 1982-83 season.
NO. 10 PITT 73, COPPIN ST. 42: Chris Taft had 18 points and 11 rebounds and Carl Krauser added 17 points for the host Panthers, 8-0 for the third season in a row. Pittsburgh also has won 23 consecutive nonconference games.
Pitt had one of its best defensive games of the season, holding the Eagles to 30.6 percent shooting. Robert Pressey scored 12 and Nicholas King 10 for Coppin State, 0-14 all-time against Big East teams.
NO. 16 IOWA 88, W. CAROLINA 75: Jeff Horner scored 17 of his 20 in the second half and almost single-handedly broke the game open for the host Hawkeyes. The Catamounts trailed 43-31 after Kyle Greathouse's 3-pointer when Horner took over, scoring 15 of Iowa's next 18 and feeding Alex Thompson for a dunk.
NO. 19 GW 85, TOWSON 69: Pops Mensah-Bonsu scored 15 and Ricky Lucas added 13 of his season-high 14 in the second half to help the host Colonials to their seventh straight win.
Omar Williams scored 10 of his 12 in the first 10 minutes of the second half and finished with eight rebounds for George Washington.
NO. 21 MICH. ST. 63, DEL. ST. 45: Chris Hill had 14 points, including four 3-pointers, and the host Spartans rallied. Kelvin Torbert added 12 points and Shannon Brown 10 for sluggish Michigan State, which struggled after a 25-point win over Stanford on Dec. 11.
