Michigan Basketball: Loss of John Beilein would be catastrophic
John Beilein is currently flirting with the idea of leaving the Michigan Wolverines and college basketball for the NBA’s Detroit Pistons.
John Beilein is not in the class of the John Caliparis and Jay Wrights of the college basketball world. He’s not even close to being on par with his intrastate coaching rival, Tom Izzo.
Over the course of his Michigan Wolverines tenure, however, he’s proven to be someone who gets results. Fans in Ann Arbor would miss that if he chose to leave the program in the coming days.
ESPN reported Friday that Beilein interviewed for the open coaching position with the NBA’s Detroit Pistons on Thursday. The report alluded to the fact that there’s been some NBA interest in Beilein in the past.
Before we go off the deep end, it’s worth noting that Beilein isn’t necessarily the odds-on favorite for the job. There are plenty of intriguing candidates out there with more NBA experience, including former Toronto Raptors coach Dwane Casey.
John Beilein is the first head coach to arrive at #USABMU18, a good 45 minutes before practice begins. No Pistons paraphanelia to be found.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) June 2, 2018
That being said, Michigan would be in a catastrophic spot without Beilein.
First, the coach himself. Just last year, he led the Wolverines to their second Final Four trip under his guidance, winning a school-record 33 games in the process. While they fell woefully short against the Villanova Wildcats, they continued building a reputation as one of college basketball’s most consistent winners.
Beilein has won 248 games since taking over in 2007, making him the most prolific winner in school history.
Beyond that, leaving now would put the Wolverines in a tight spot. It’s June, so the college coaching carousel is long past. Michigan would either elevate from within or try to poach a coach from a comfortable spot.
It wouldn’t be an unprecedented situation to be in. Ohio State and Thad Matta parted ways at this time a year ago, yet the Buckeyes still managed to snare Chris Holtmann from Butler.
But Michigan would rather not find themselves in that situation.
In all seriousness: Michigan needs to throw all of the money it has at John Beilein. He’s the best basketball coach the program has ever had. He’s clean, he’s great with media and he beats Michigan State a lot.
— Brandon Justice (@BrandonJustice_) June 1, 2018
A few weeks ago, discussions of a contract extension to keep Beilein in Ann Arbor past his current deal arose. Nothing had been hammered out yet, but it almost felt as if it was a matter of when, not if.
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Suddenly, the Michigan Wolverines find themselves in a fight to keep John Beilein at home.