The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
Monday, A pril 9, 2007 - 3B
Michigan junior Matko Maravic defeated the nation's 15th-rar
during the Wolverines 5-2 upset victory over No. 8 Illinois.
ILLINI '
From page 1B
"don't get scared," as mild
encouragement to his team-
mates. Berque believed that
in doubles his team came out
slow.
"t don't think they were as
aggressive and didn't play to
their own level. They were
playing not to miss rather than
to go after it," Berque said.
In singles, the momentum
continued to tilt for Illinois
when Brain Hung lost a quick
match 1-6, 1-6 to give the Illini
a 2-0 lead.
After surrendering the first
two points of the night, Michi-
gan (7-1, 16-4) responded, win-
ning the last five matches.
"In times of challenge, that's
when you need to step up, not
in times of comfort, and that's
what we definitely did today,"
Michigan senior captain Ryan
Heller said. "We stepped up
when we were challenged."
Mazlin, Heller and Navas all
pulled off close matches to give
Michigan a 3-2 lead, setting the
stage for Peretz.
As Peretz served for the win,
the fans crowded around the
court to encourage the senior
in his biggest match as a Wol-
verine.
"Once the crowd comes out
and we get to feed off their
energy, it is such a big lift,"
Heller said.
The Michigan fans cheered
the seniors as they hugged after
Peretz's match.
"There have been a lot of
hard times," Peretz said. "This
is something we have always
fought for, and it actually hap-
pened."
The seniors have seen the
team improve from seventh in
the Big Ten their freshman year
to being in the hunt for the Big
Ten title this season.
As Illinois dejectedly hud-
dled together after the match,
one fan couldn't help but notice
the juxtaposition.
"I've seen the Michigan team
in that position over the last
three years," LSA junior Aubrey
Hall said. "It's really nice to see
them come out victorious on
the other side."
BASEBALL
From page 1B
This weekend, the Wolverines lost
the chance to play against one of
their few remaining tough oppo-
nents
In addition, winning this week-
end's games would have brought
the Wolverines' win column closer
to 40, the number that Maloney
feels his team needs for a solid shot
at an at-large bid. With five games
already cancelled this season
because of weather - four against
Minnesota, and one against No. 24
East Carolina - reaching the 40-
win plateau with a solid RPI will
be increasingly difficult.
"Our chance to play RPI games
is limited to the first 12 or 13
games on the schedule," Maloney
said. "Knowing that a team like
Michigan played a schedule that
was ranked 21st, and then we slide
because of a northern schedule
that we can't control with a whole
series washed out against a team
BEILEIN
From page 1B
me, and they let me make these
decisions."
But how can a so-called fam-
ily man justify switching jobs and
moving four times in 13 years, and
seven times over his entire career.
When he uprooted his family
from LeMoyne and moved them
to the Buffalo area after taking
the Canisius job, his oldest child,
daughter Seana, was just 11. And
his youngest, Andrew, was just an
infant.
Beilein's bond with his family is
so strong that they listen to him no
matter what. All the Beileins are
confident everything will turn out
fine. That's why his wife and four
kids have moved from Buffalo to
Syracuse back to Buffalo down to
Richmond, Va., west to Morgan-
town W.Va. and now Ann Arbor.
"I just believe in what he says,"
said Beilein's wife, Kathleen.
"When something comes along ...
and I see that spark in his eye, I
know it's the right thing for him,
and I would never hold him back.
We've been very fortunate, and
we've always made the right deci-
sion, so why would I ever doubt
that it wasn't?"
The bond he shares with his
family has extended onto the bas-
ketball court.
At West Virginia, Beilein got the
privilege of coaching his own son,
Patrick, who was a key cog in the
Mountaineers' runs to the Elite
Eight and Sweet 16 in 2005 and
2006, respectively.
Even in the heat of battle, Pat-
rick still called his father "Dad" on
the court. There was no distinction
between player and son - they just
molded into one role. And ulti-
mately Beilein wants that type of
relationship with every one of his
players.
"Our relationship as father-son
just translated very easilyback onto
the court," Patrick Beilein said.
"He treated me just like any other
player. When he was upset with me
he'd drop a few curse words just
like with anyone else. And at the
same time he was always there for
me whenever I needed him."
Beilein credits his program's
family atmosphere as the primary
with a good RPI, is there going
to be some grace at the end of the
year? This weekend puts us in a
very bad spot."
Though their RPI and strength
of schedule statistics will still suf-
fer, the Wolverines are trying to
add Mid-American Conference
opponents to their schedule in the
next month for the opportunity to
reach the 40-win mark.
"We will attempt to try to make
up some of those five games by
scheduling a different opponent
during the midweek when we have
an open date, and calling around
(for) whoever we can get, mostly
the teams within close proximity,"
Maloney said. "We'll be willing to
(play) pretty much any Division I
game that we can find."
With a better weather forecast
this week, the Wolverines intend
to play games against Toledo
and Ohio State, and, with a solid
defense and potent offense, con-
tinue their winning streak.
That's something they can con-
trol.
reason for his success. Since his
move to Canisius in 1992, Beilein
has had just two losing seasons and
has reached postseason play in all
but four seasons.
Just this past season, two of
Beilein's best players during his
five-year stint with Canisius -
Daryl Barley and Michael Meeks
- were being inducted into the
Griffins' Hall of Fame. The cer-
emony was scheduled for halftime
of Canisius's 2 p.m. game with a
reception scheduled for 4:15 p.m.
Beilein had a game at noon in Cin-
cinnati coaching West Virginia.
After the Mountaineers let a late
lead slip away and lost in overtime,
Beilein still hopped on a jet and
arrived at the Canisius banquet
hall in time to hearboth Barley and
Meeks speak.
Nearly 10 years had passed
since Meeks and Barley graduated.
Neither soared to stardom in the
NBA, but the bond that developed
between coach and player was so
strong that even the most disap-
pointing losses couldn't break it.
And whether it's rooting for
his beloved St. Louis Cardinals or
showing how to perfect a backdoor
cut, John Beilein is a devoted man.
"There's love between coach-
ing staffs and players," Beilein said
"That'1'word is somethingnot a lot
coaches used to use. I think a lot of
us do use it now. Some of it is tough
love now. You attend some practic-
es you're going to say, 'That doesn't
look like a lot of love out there.'
There's tough love, and thenthere's
really sincere, we care about you.
This is my belief, but when they
know that you really care about
them, they will go through walls
for you."
HE GOT PITTSNOGLED
It wasn't in Beilein's plans to
become a basketball coach.
After graduating from Wheeling
Jesuit in 1975, he got a job teach--
ing social studies at a Buffalo-area
high school. But the school needed
coaches, too. So Beilein agreed to
become assistant varsity football
coach, head JV basketball coach
and head JV baseball coach.
He was promoted to varsity
basketball head coach after a year.
Following two successful seasons,
Erie Community College took a
chance and made Beilein its men's
Michigan coach Rich Maloney saw his team's games cancelled due to bad weather.
basketball head coach.
And from there, a desire to coach
was born - a fire that still burns to
this day.
"When I first started coaching in
1975, I said, 'I cannot do this for a
living,' " Beilein said. "I was physi-
cally sick before a JV high school
basketball game. And here it is, 32
years later, and I love it more than
any time in my life."
Part of that love comes from
the notoriety and success he has
enjoyed over the past few sea-
sons as West Virginia's basketball
coach.
To college basketball fans,
though, Beilein isn't known for his
compassion and devotion to fam-
ily.
He's known for 3-pointers and
Kevin Pittsnogle.
His offensive system, perfected
over 29 seasons as a head coach,
is dependant on deadly shooters,
smart decision makers and a will-
ingness to learn. And the system
still works with or without five-
star athletes.
Beilein took over a West Virgin-
ia program on the brink of NCAA
sanctions. After a rough first sea-
son, Beilein never had another los-
ing season with the Mountaineers.
And he took a -collection of unas-
suming players and transformed
them into a national phenomenon.
Kevin Pittsnogle, the goofily
named, awkward-looking, 6-foot-
10, tattoo-covered forward who
starred for the Mountaineers,
became the star of the 2005 NCAA
Tournament. He led West Virginia
to the Elite Eight. And in the pro-
cess, he put his coach's name on the
map.
"When you start looking at a guy
like Beilein, I did it when the name
Pittsnogle came around," Michi-
gan Athletic Director Bill Martin
said. "You kind of became a fan of
that team because of this guy and
his name and a 6-foot-10 guy who's
shooting 3-pointers, shooting the
lights out. Who is this guy? Who's
the coach of this team? Then I'm
starting to become a commuter fan
of West Virginia basketball."
It was a new way of playingbas-
ketball. Analysts had said for years
the 3-point shot revolutionized the
game, but Beilein took it to a new
extreme. Every player on the floor
could launch a shot from beyond
the arc at any moment.
It was an offense and a philoso-
phy perfected over many years.
Beilein has never been an assis-
tant coach in basketball, so he
can't lean on lessons learned from
an old boss. He lists his mentors
as Joe and Tom Niland, his uncles
who both played at Canisius: Joe
was a legendary coach for the Grif-
fins, and Tom became the athletic
director at LeMoyne.
If there was anyone who Beilein
would go to for coaching advice, it
was one of them. Both have since
died, but Beilein remembers the
lessons they taught him. He will
always trust his own flesh and
blood above anything else.
"Family is first and foremost,
which I don't think you find much
in this business," said Michael
McDonald, an assistant coach
underBeileinatCanisius. "Youlook
at the five best basketball coaches
in this country, John Beilein is
going to be on that list. If you went
one step further, and you list the
five best people who happen to be
basketball coaches, he's definitely
in the mix."
A NEW FAMILY
Moving from West Virginia to
Michigan has been a little different
for Beilein. He now has a proven
track record with the Elite Eight
appearance in 2005 and the Sweet
16 the following season.
Beilein has said he wants Michi-
gan tobe the final stop in his coach-
ing journey. He said he can win a
National Championship with the
resources available in Ann Arbor.
He isn't intimidated by Mich-
igan's current nine-year absence
from the NCAA Tournament.
Beilein's been there and done
that. If anything, this transition
might be a little easier on him.
His own family is almost all
grown up. He has just one child
still in high school. Now, he has a
new job: raising a new basketball
family.
John Beilein has gone from a
JV basketball coach who couldn't
hold down his lunch to millionaire
offensive guru, but he hasn't yet
lost sight of what's important to
him.
Besides, the view is a lot nicer
now than on that ride home from
Colgate 17 years ago.
Michigan coach Carol Hutchins has seen Big Ten games cancelled because of
inclement weather in each of the last three seasons.
Michigan may have actually
SOFTBALL benefited from missing the
From page 1B tough stretch.
-_. But while it may be difficult
to become a contender once to determine the extent of the
again. impact of the cancellations, the
The Wolverines face Iowa pressure is definitely on.
(4-2, 28-15) and Illinois (2-2, And with rain showers and
23-14) next weekend. 30-degree temperatures pro-
The past three years, the jected for Michigan's matchup
conference champion has had with Iowa next weekend, there
just two or three Big Ten loss- is a possibility the weather
es. With such high winning could rear its ugly head again
percentages required to win and mess with the top of the
the Big Ten, every loss is mag- Big Ten standings even fur-
nified. Because of the snow, ther.
I I
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