If you’ve spent decades coaching college basketball, you accumulate stories.

Some are about buzzer-beaters. Some are about championships. Others are about the players who changed your life or the mentors who shaped your career. Every once in a while, though, you hear a story that perfectly captures the personalities that made college basketball what it is.

I was recently thinking back to an old interview I conducted on the Empire Sports Talk podcast, and one story in particular was too good not to pry out of the vault and share with you…

Back in April of 2023, I had the privilege of sitting down with my longtime mentor and friend, Matthew Driscoll, who was then the head coach at the University of North Florida. Today, he’s the Associate Head Coach at NC State, but one thing certainly hasn’t changed: Coach Driscoll remains one of the best storytellers I’ve ever been around. For Coach Driscoll, one of his most iconic moments was when he found notoriety in 2015 during North Florida’s only NCAA Tournament run in the school’s history. During a live halftime interview, Driscoll uttered the phrase, “Ballers make plays, dudes are dudes,” which made him an instant internet sensation for weeks, long after UNF’s postseason run was over.

As our conversation wound down, I asked him a question that has become something of a tradition in my interviews.

“What’s your craziest coaching story?”

Without hesitation, he smiled and admitted there were far too many to choose from. He briefly mentioned everything from dropping his newborn son while folding towels as a Division III assistant to finding himself in a frightening situation during a recruiting trip when shots were fired outside a gym. Then he paused for a moment and settled on a story involving one of college basketball’s legendary personalities: Rick Majerus.

“We got a problem.”

The story takes us back to 1998. Driscoll had just joined Larry Shyatt‘s staff at Wyoming for his first Division I coaching job. Early that season, the Cowboys traveled to Salt Lake City to face Rick Majerus and a Utah program that would eventually reach the Final Four.

Things weren’t exactly going Wyoming’s way. Utah had control of the game, and with less than four minutes remaining, one of Majerus’ assistants unexpectedly walked toward the Wyoming bench during a media timeout.

Driscoll remembered thinking, “Why is he coming over here?”

The answer wasn’t what he expected.

Apparently, Wyoming assistant Monte Scheidt had made a comment about the game’s physicality a couple of minutes earlier. Majerus overheard it, didn’t appreciate it, and according to the Utah staff, was so upset that he no longer intended to shake Coach Shyatt’s hand after the game.

Coach Shyatt was informed of the situation, then turned to Driscoll with a simple message.

“We got a problem.”

When the Glasses Came Off…

Driscoll decided to handle it himself.

With only seconds remaining in a game Wyoming was going to lose by a comfortable margin, he pulled Coach Shyatt aside.

“Coach, just stay behind me. Shake hands with the assistants if you want, but let’s avoid this and head to the locker room.”

Coach Shyatt wasn’t thrilled.

“I ain’t scared of him.”

Driscoll quickly clarified that it wasn’t about fear. It was about preventing something unnecessary from happening.

Then came the moment that has lived in his memory ever since. As the handshake line approached, Rick Majerus reached the scorer’s table, removed his glasses, and carefully set them down.

Driscoll admitted that the only thing running through his mind was:

“This dude is really going to try to fight Coach.”

Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed before anything escalated, and the situation was diffused before it became anything more than an unforgettable story.

The Sequel Nobody Saw Coming

If that had been the end of the story, it would’ve been memorable enough.

But it wasn’t.

Later that season, Utah had to make the return trip to Wyoming.

By then, internet message boards had become the battleground between fan bases, and according to Driscoll, things had become heated between Wyoming and Utah supporters. Some of the comments had apparently crossed the line, creating enough concern that Majerus altered his team’s travel plans. Instead of arriving the night before as usual, Utah canceled its practice and flew in on game day.

When the fourth-ranked Utes emerged from the tunnel in Laramie, they were greeted by a packed arena that made its feelings toward the visiting coach abundantly clear. Driscoll laughed while recalling the reception, noting there were other stories from that night that were probably better left untold.

Then Wyoming pulled off the upset.

What the Story Really Says About Rick Majerus

Oddly enough, my favorite part of the entire story had nothing to do with the confrontation. After the game, long after the fans had gone home, Driscoll walked past Utah’s locker room on his way back to Wyoming’s. Rick Majerus was still inside.

More than an hour after the final buzzer, he was still talking to his team. That image says everything. Majerus was famously fiery. He was demanding. Competitive. Stubborn. Sometimes controversial. But he also cared deeply about the game and about the players who wore his uniform. Coaches don’t stay in a locker room that long because they’re worried about the headlines. They stay because losing matters to them.

That passion helped make Rick Majerus one of the most respected basketball minds of his generation. It’s also why stories like this continue to be told decades later.

More Than Just Basketball

One of the things I’ve always appreciated about Coach Driscoll is that he understands sports are ultimately about people.

Throughout our conversation, he talked about leadership, faith, relationships, mentorship, and the countless “dots on a map” that eventually connect into a career. The Rick Majerus story wasn’t just entertaining because it involved two legendary coaches nearly crossing paths after an emotional game. It was memorable because it revealed the personalities behind the box scores and reminded us that some of the best stories in sports happen far away from the spotlight.

If you’ve never watched my full interview with Coach Matthew Driscoll, I’d highly encourage you to do it. I’ll link it here as well as down below.

Coach Driscoll shares stories from every stop of his coaching journey, discusses the mentors who shaped him, reflects on building the University of North Florida into an Atlantic Sun champion, and offers some of the best leadership advice I’ve heard from anyone in sports. The Rick Majerus story may be the one that gets people talking, but it’s just one chapter in a conversation that is equal parts hilarious, inspiring, and insightful.