Michigan Basketball: John Beilein built a winner in Ann Arbor
By Adam Childs
John Beilein surprising left Michigan basketball to take the Cleveland Cavaliers job. It was the last stop for a man who has climbed through the ranks. What has he meant to the Michigan basketball program?
I have been a Michigan fan for the better part of the last 30 years. Through the highs and the lows. The Fab Five days were my first real memories of Michigan basketball and with them brought the fallout of an NCAA scandal. I have seen coaches come and go and some decent runs in the Big Ten and the NCAA tournament, but nothing of any significance.
Then they hired a guy from West Virginia named John Beilein. He was one of two coaches Michigan had poached from West Virginia. The other is one we as Michigan fans would love to forget about, but Beilein was different.
He did things the right way, and for a program that was trying to get past the Fab Five days and get back to national relevance. The first year wasn’t great, going just 10-22, but in just his second year guiding the Wolverines, he led them to a 21-14 record and NCAA tournament berth. It looked like the start of something big.
They would miss the tournament the next year but in his last nine years with the Wolverines, he led the team to the tournament eight times.
He continually recruited high character guys that weren’t five-star prospects out of high school. He developed talent better than anyone in the country. He constantly got the most out of his guys and wasn’t afraid to adapt to the changing college game.
It was highlighted by title runs in 2013 and 2017. The Wolverines would come up short in both of those games, but Michigan become one of the most successful tournament teams in the country. In the last four years, only North Carolina has as many tournament wins as the Wolverines. A decade ago, that would have been unthinkable.
He took the Wolverines to three straight Sweet 16’s and won back-to-back conference tournament championships in 2017 and 2018. They just missed out on a third straight this year, losing in the last minute to Michigan State.
He brought in great assistants and they either moved on to head jobs or are on their way. Bacari Alexander is now the head coach at Detroit and LaVall Jordan is at Butler. Most recently, he brought in Luke Yaklich to coach the defense and he has been one of his best hires ever.
Beilein built a winner at Michigan and a model program in a college basketball world so full of turmoil (see Arizona and LSU, among others). We, as fans, never questioned if he ran a clean program and that was something to hang his hat on.
Next. Top programs of the 21st century. dark
Beilein leaving is a shock for the Wolverine nation, but what he did for us and the University will never be forgotten. He will be replaced as head coach but he will never truly be replaced. Words can’t express the gratitude we have for a man that did it the right way.
We hate to see you go but, Coach Beilein, thanks for everything.