What Crews will talk about is the Saint Louis system. He's quick to downplay his own contributions, repeating over and over that he's simply had to step back and allow his players — the top eight in the rotation are juniors and seniors — to execute the system the way they've been trained. He even claims that the players know it better than he does, and that from time to time, he has to ask them questions.
And that's the Majerus imprint. He taught his players not only how, but why. According to Crews, this is Majerus's permanent legacy with this team, and the reason the system could keep working after he was gone. The players know the steps of the dance, but they also know the motive behind the steps. It's ingrained.
It was no coincidence that Crews didn't mention a single player's name until we were 13 minutes into our conversation, and it's no coincidence that I haven't mentioned one until now. They're a collective, one that Crews calls "quietly incredible."
"It's kind of a unique group the last few years in terms of emotion and leadership," he said. "Most teams that I've been around have had one or two guys at the forefront, leading, and we really haven't had that. It's just been a group leadership, with different guys at different times and different situations."
