The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Thursday, April 5, 2007 - 5A

"I brought out a couple of NCAA rings and an Elite Eight ring and a Sweet
r 16 ring. I passed it around to these guys today, and I said, 'We're going to put
these on as soon as we can.' " - Michigan coach John Beilein
JOHNNY B. GOOD

Beilel s a
coach's coach

"I think he's definitely in the top
five (coaches in the country), and I
think he's the best teacher. He and
Bobby Knight are right up there as
the best teachers in the country."
hat quote might be a little
par-
tisan.
After all, it's
from Patrick
Beilein, the
son and former
player of newx
Michigan men's
basketball coach
John Beilein. DANIEL
But the son's BROMWRCH
opinion, while
admittedly Broms away
biased, certainly
isn't unique.
Howard Garfinkel, co-founder of
the Five-Star Basketball camp that
produced coaches like Rick Pitino,
Hubie Brown and John Calipari,told
the Roanoake Times "(Beilein is) the
best coach in America today, except
for maybe Coach K and Pitino. He's
definitely in the top five."
New Jersey Nets general man-
ager Rod Thorn echoed that senti-
ment.
"He could coach anywhere and

do really, really well," Thorn told
Yahoo Sports. "He's one of the best
coaches in all of basketball."
After his team played West Vir-
ginia this season, Georgetown
coachJohnThompsonIIIexplained
that if you couldn't appreciate the
way the Mountaineers played bas-
ketball, you didn't know anything
about fhe game.
George Washington coach Karl
Hobbs has referred to Beilein as the
best coach in the country.
Athletic DirectorBill Martin was
aware of all this recognition, and
when he consulted other coaches
about Beilein, he received similar
reactions.
"We love learning from him,"
one said.
"I look at a lot of his tape to see
how he does stuff," another told
Martin.
But Beilein doesn't need any
of these compliments. His record
speaks for itself.
He's succeeded at every level,
posting winning records in 26 of
his 29 seasons as a head coach,
including stops at Erie Commu-
nity College and Nazareth. He
took Canisius (who?) to the NCAA
Tournament in 1996 (it hadn't been
See BROMWICH, Page 8A

John Beilein will look to lead Michigan to its first NCAA Tournament since 1998. He coached West Virginia tothe Big Dance two of the past three years.
Beilein officially a Wolverine

Players eager to
take next step

By H. JOSE BOSCH
Daily Sports Editor
Former West Virginia men's bas-
ketball coach John Beilein, his wife
Kathleen and his sons Mark and
Patrick all wore gold Block-M' pins
as they entered the Junge Family
Champions Center yesterday after-
noon. The Michigan men's basket-
ball team followed behind.
The moment featured two fami-
lies - the Michigan family and the
Beilein family - welcoming each
other.
Beilein was officially introduced
as Michigan's new men's basketball
coach yesterday afternoon.
The announcement ends the
coaching search that began March
17 when Athletic Director Bill
Martin fired former coach Tommy
Amaker.
"I felt very, very comfortable
with (Beilein)," Martin said. "I saw
that he was the right fit for Michi-
gan."
The $2.5 million buyout from
West Virginia that was thought to
be a point of contention is not the
responsibility of Michigan, Beilein
said during the press conference.
He told the media his lawyers were
taking care of the situation.
The contract is for six years, and
his base salary will be $200,000.
He will receive an additional $1.1
million per year compensation for
television, radio, Internet and other
responsibilities.
The other major issue at hand
was Michigan's lack of practice
facilities. Beilein acknowledged
that he and Martin have a general
plan for the future, but said nothing
is set in stone. When pressed on the
fact that he indeed, wasn't guaran-
teed a new practice facility, Beilein
deflected the question.
\"(Martin's) open to all options,"
Beilein said. "That's terrific for me
to hear. That's all I can ask, is give
us a chance to compete with our
competitors and recruiting young
men, practicing and developing our
players."
Then Beilein turned and pointed
to the group of current Michigan
basketball players standing off to
the left.
"Those are some pretty impor-

WINNING IS
EVERYTHING
Beilen is signed for six years at a
$200,000 base salary. But it isn't just
about the bottom line - the contract has
bonuses linked to winning;
$25,000 NCAA Tournament
$50,000 Sweet16
$100,000 Final Four
$150,000 National Championship
not cumulative bonuses
program back on a national stage
and be national contenders."
The former Mountaineers' coach
comes in with considerable post-
season success over his 29 years of
coaching. In the past three years,
Beilein has reached the Elite Eight
and the Sweet 16. He won the
National Invitational Tournament
Championship last Thursday. The
Wolverines have failed to reach the
NCAA Tournament since 1998.
Despite his successes at West
Virginia, Beilein decided to leave
See BEILEIN, Page 8A

By DANIEL LEVY
Daily Sports Writer
After accepting the job as the
Michigan's men's basketball coach,
John Beilein wanted to touch base
with all of his new players before
being officially introduced.
Even if he wasn't sure exactly
who he was talkingto.
"The first thing he said, he called
me Jerret," said freshman Ekpe
Udoh, referring to their conversa-
tion Tuesday. "Somebody gave him
the wrong number. He was talk-
ing to me like I was Jerret, then
he called me again, and I told him
I had just talked to him, so we just
laughed a little bit."
After that opening hiccup, the
two talked for a few minutes to get
to know each other. Udoh was one
of the many players Beilein tried to
reach Tuesday night, so the conver-
sation was brief, but the freshman
came away excited about his new
coach.
"I think he's a cool guy," Udoh
said. "I think he's going to be able
to relate to us."
During yesterday's press con-

ference, Beilein mentioned giving
each player a summer goal with the
motivation of "meeting the track"
if they don't achieve those goals.
The statement was met with laugh-
ter from the media, but at least one
Wolverine took it to heart.
"(We're gonna be) playing hard.
If not, we're gonna be on the track,"
Udoh said. "That's good, it's gonna
push us to be the best we can. We
just lost four seniors, so we got to
take responsibility now. It's up to
us."
. Udoh also spoke about the other
hot topic surrounding the hiring of
Beilein - whether or not the new
coach can keep Michigan's three
recruits from asking out of their
letter of intent. Former Michigan
coach Tommy Amaker locked up
an impressive trio, headlined by
Michigan's Mr. Basketball winner
Manny Harris out of Redford. Oak
HillAcademy standout Alex Legion
and East Grand Rapids pointguard
Kelvin Grady are scheduled to join
him this fall. There had been rum-
blings of frustration amongsome of
the recruits and their families, but
See PLAYERS, Page 8A

John Beilein chats with reporters after a press conference officially announcing his
signing with Michigan.
tant recruits right there," Beilein record, expectations are high. But
said. "They're already here, but you Beilein was optimistic during his
have to recruit them every day to be opening statement.
better players. That's important as "There are big challenges, but
well. We'll plan on doing that as the I've never looked at the challenges
facilities are upgraded, and certain- as much as I've looked at the oppor-
ly with the facilities we have right tunities," Beilein said. "We have one
now." great opportunity here to put the
With Beilein's impressive track University of Michigan basketball


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EXPLORING THE POWER OF PLACE

imagining eden: connecting landscapes
Shaping the natural world I March 31 -,June 3
fnriir E . Cniig ladscaps.5 Cs made possibl by Fod iMorcopany Fundi, as at of its spporI of UM MAs 2006--07sson .
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yle Goin es (American . o 1954) San Frncisc Prusidic s i j del) 18g, gelatin , si- r prin. Courtesy of the artist and the Halsted Gallery

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