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8 - Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
FIVE HUNDRED
After 27 seasons at
four-year schools,
Beilein reaches
coaching milestone
By ALEX PROSPERI
Daily Sports Writer
As time wound down during the
Michigan men's basketball team's
68-59victory over Northwestern on
Saturday, fifth-year senior C.J. Lee
saw Wolverine coach John Beilein
shaking hands with his assistant
coaches.
The gestuee was a bit unusual
- Beilein usually walks straight to
the opposing coach to shake hands.
When Lee entered the locker room,
administrative specialist Jeff
Meyer whispered that it was Beile-
in's 500th win at a four-year school.
The co-captain proceeded to write
a big"500" on the whiteboard.
That Lee was unaware of Bei-
lein's achievement speaks less to
Lee's absentmindedness and more
to Beilein's humility. The coach is a
man at work, jacket off and sleeves
rolled up on the sideline.
"I'll say what every coach says
and they should say," said Beilein,
who coached five college teams
before landing at Michigan in 2007.
"It is a great staff and great play-
ers."
Beilein, now one of 18 active head
coaches with 500 wins, was mod-
est regarding the landmark win,
but Michigan associate head coach
Jerry Dunn wasn't.
"I think in today's game, it's
really outstanding," Dunn said.
"Because all too often, you don't
have the luxury of having the same
guys for four years. The beauty of it
is he's done it everywhere he's been,
and he's been very innovative in
finding ways to win."
Asked if he was proud of his
coach's accomplishment, sopho-
more Manny Harris added: "Oh
yeah, oh yeah. Five hundred -
that's big-time."
Before entering the college
ranks, Beilein, 55, spent three years
at Newfane Central High School in
Newfane, N.Y. His first college job
was at Erie Community College in
Buffalo, N.Y., where he posted a
75-43 record in four years. Erie is
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Cagers drop
fifth straight
in road defeat
1 vil
S AIfD ALSAL AH/Da
Michigan men's basketball coach John Beilein earned his 500th win at a four-year college against Northwestern on Saturday.
Michigan continues
to struggle away
from Crisler Arena
in Big Ten play
By JOE STAPLETON
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women's bas-
ketball team seems to be slowly
figuring out how to win a Big Ten
game on the road.
But the Wolverines still
couldn't pull out the win away
from Crisler Arena, losing 77-69
to Iowa on Monday.
Last-
night MICHIGAN 69
was IOWA 77
Michi-
gan's best performance in a con-
ference road game, despite losing
its fifth straight overall. The Wol-
verines are on their longest losing
streak since dropping the last six
games of the 2006-2007 season.
By working the ball into the
paint to find easy buckets, Michi-
gan (2-7 Big Ten, 9-11 overall)
kept up with the Hawkeyes' rapid
scoring pace.
Both teams went back and
forth all night and the game had
17 lead changes in the first half
alone.
From the beginning, it was
clear that Michigan wanted to
focus on creating a post pres-
ence.
Junior center Krista Phillips
started over senior Stephany
Skrba, and she made it count.
Matching up against 6-foot-6
Iowa center Megan Skouby, Phil-
lips went 8-of-15 for aseason-high
16 points. She was also a rebound
away from a double-double.
"She did a real good job of
establishing herself really early,
and .that really got her confi-
dence up," Michigan coach Kevin
Borseth said.
The Wolverines scored 32
points in the paint, far more than
in recent games where they have
relied more on the 3-point shot.
Skrba played just three min-
utes and didn't take a shot, but
freshman Carmen Reynolds
stepped up. The wing came off
the bench and scored 12 points,
most of them tough baskets down
low.
"Carmen comes in and gives us
an added presence down around
that post and her ability to drive
it," Borseth said.
Sophomore guard Veronica
Hicks bounced back nicely from
her poor scoring night against
Indiana and finished as Michi-
gan's second-leading scorer with
15 points.
"We put the ball.in the basket
for the first time," Borseth said.
Iowa ended the
game with a 6-0
run to clinch
the victory.
"That hasn't happened in quite a
long time."
Michigan matched Iowa's
intensity the entire game, but
the Wolverines couldn't close the
game out in the final minutes.
Down by just two with 1:33
remaining, Michigan let 5-foot-8
Hawkeye guard Kamille Wahlin
grab an offensive rebound off a
missed shot by senior Wendy
Ausdemore and put it in for the
layup.
Michigan missed its .final six
shots and Iowa (5-3, 12-7) ended
the game on a 6-0 run to seal*the
victory.
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a two-year program, and only four-
year programs count towards the
NCAA total.
"I think the first 75 at Erie Com-
munity College were pretty darn
hard to get," Beilein said. "You go
and you do your coaching at Broom
Tech, and who knows who is reffing
the game? They could be directly
related to the coach. And you ate at
McDonalds and you drove the van.
So those were pretty hard too -
those first four years."
Beilein then spent one year at
Division-III Nazareth in Roches-
ter, N.Y., compiling a 20-6 record.
Next, Beilein turned Division-II Le
Moyne in Syracuse, N.Y., into a com-
petitor, winning at least 19 games in
five of nine seasons.
He stayed in New York to take
his first Oivieion-I job in 1992. At
Canisius in Buffalo, Beilein won at
least 17 games in four of five sea-
sons. In 1996, Canisius won the
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Tournament to reach its first NCAA
Tournament in almost 40 years.
Two years later, Beilein took the
lead post at Richmond, where he
put together a 100-53 record in five
seasons.
In 2002, West Virginia hired
Beilein, who quickly turned the
program into a force to be reckoned
with in the Big East. His Mountain-
eers reached the NCAA Tourna-
ment twice, including a trip to the
Elite Eight in 2005. And West Vir-
ginia won the National Invitation
Tournament in his last year there.
Beilein is in his 34th consecu-
tine year as a coach and second at
Michigan.
"I'm a nomad, and there's a lot
of losses in those 500, as well," said
Beilein, who is the only active col-
lege coach with 20-win seasons at
four different levels (junior col-
lege, NAIA, NCAA Division-II and
NCAA Division-I). "Kathleen (Bei-
lein's wife for 29 years) has been
with me through every one of them,
too."
Although Lee pondered the
meaning behind Beilein's con-
gratulatory handshakes, redshirt
freshman Laval Lucas-Perry had
something else on his mind.
"I was thinking of pouring a
Gatorade on him during the game,"
Lucas-Perry said. "But there wasn't
any time for that."
After rewarding career, Urbanchek gives back to 'M'
Famed volunteer
coach to be inducted
into Michigan Sports
Hall of Fame
By RYAN A. PODGES
Daily Sports Writer
Last fall, the Michigan men's
swim team wasworking out at Elbel
Field. Assistant coach Dr. Josh
White had the team playing Ulti-
mate Frisbee, but instead of using
a Frisbee, the Wolverines used
medicine balls for training. With an
odd number of guys at practice, the
team needed another person to play,
so White yelled at retired Michigan
coach Jon Urbanchek to get in the
game.
"I was just joking, but I should
have known," White said laughing.
"Before I know it, he's pulled his
shirt off, running right in there and
playing with them."
White should have known. Not
only because Urbanchek is in great
__ - - r --, -11 ----j - - _ - - n --
H--UOI
physical shape - he's been running,
outside every morning for 20 years
and still lifts weights with the team
- but because he's always willing to
help out in any way he can. And he
does.
After retiring in 2004 at the end
of his 22nd season as Michigan's
head coach, he became an assistant
coach with Club Wolverine, helping
the high-performance group pre-
pare for the 2008 Olympics. In July,
when current head coach Mike Bot-
tom was hired to replace former
coach Bob Bowman, he immedi-
ately asked Urbanchek to stay and
help.
"When I first started coaching,
I had a list of about six coaches
I wanted to work with," Bottom
said. "And Jon was on the top of
that list."
Urbanchek now serves as the
team's volunteer coach emeritus
and is still involved in everything
from meet and practice prepara-
tion to showing recruits around
Ann Arbor.
Bottom said the team is
"blessed" to have Urbanchek on
deck and that there is no better
ambassador for Michigan swim-
ming. Before coaching the Wolver-
ines, Urbanchek swam at Michigan
from 1958-62 and was a member of
three NCAA Championship teams.
Asheadcoachfrom1982to2004,.
he won 13 Big Ten titles, includ-
ing 10 straight from 1986 to 1995,
and led the Wolverines to a 100-4
record against Big Ten teams. In
1995, Michigan won its 11th and
most recent NCAA National Cham-
pionship, pulling even with Ohio
State for the national record.
In addition to his collegiate suc-
cess, Urbanchek cultivated a pro-
gram that produced Big Ten and
NCAA champion swimmers who
were also competitive at interna-
tional competitions.
"At Michigan, it's more than
just the Big Tens or the NCAAs,"
Urbanchek said. "It's about going
beyond that, because there is
always another level. That's why
Michigan has been so successful
for decades, because we put more
emphasis on the Olympics and
World Championships."
Urbanchek has served as an
assistant coach at every Summer
Olympics since 1988 and worked
with world-record holders and
Olympic gold medalists including
Tom Dolan, Tom Malchow and
Michael Phelps.
Urbanchek's accomplishments
have earned him the Big Ten Coach
of the Year award nine times (more
than any other men's swimming
coach in conference history) and
the American Swimming Coaches
Association's Coach of the Year
honor in 1990 and 1995. Last sum-
mer, his accomplishments earned
him a spot in the International
Swimming Hall of Fame. He was
the 18th individual affiliated with
Michigan to be inducted.
Next month in Detroit,
Urbanchek will be inducted into the
Michigan Sports Hall of Fame as
part of a class of 11 that includes for-
mer Michigan football-and baseball
All-American Rick Leach, NASCAR
team owner Jack Roush, Red Wings
co-owner Marian Illitch and media
announcer George Blaha.
But while Urbanchek's success as
a coach is incredible, coaches and
swimmers say it's his personality
that has given him staying power.
"He's a man's man," Bottom said.
"He talks to the guys the way guys
like to be talked to in testosterone
terms, and yet he communicates
with absolute respect. There is no
one in the country that doesn't,
when you say Jon Urbanchek, just
smile, nod their head and say, 'Oh,
yes, that guy is the man."
White says he frequently asks
Urbanchek for advice and is amazed
by his humility.
"This is a guy whose name is on
the scoreboard (over the pool), and
when you go see the athletic admin-
istrators, they have signed pictures
of him hanging in their offices,"
White said, "But ego doesn't drive
Jon. He never implies that he has all
the answers. I've learned so much
from the answers that he has given
me and just watching him interact
with guys."
Many of the relationships
Urbanchek builds with his ath-
letes last a lifetime. He is routinely
invited to their weddings. They fill
his Facebook profile with greetings,
and he receives calls and text mes-
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Former Michigan men's swimming and diving coach Jon Urbanchek, seen here at a
Michigan basketball game in 2004, has had ties to Michigan since 1958.
sages from Olympians who simply
want to catch up.
Along with his volunteer posi-
tion at Michigan, Urbanchek also
works with USA Swimming as a
special assistant to the National
Team Director. He says that despite
his love of swimming, the time will
come when he will want to spend
more time with his family or enjoy-
ing his other passion - riding and
caring for his two horses, which he
keeps in a local stable.
Though he's not sure when that
time will be, Urbanchek says he
couldstopcoachingknowingthere's
not.much left for him to chase. For
now, he continues to coach not only
because he loves the sport and the
athletes, but because he felt he owed
it to the school..
"I've gotten a lot out of Michi-
gan and I owe a lot to Michigan," he
said. "When I went to school here,
I got my five years here on scholar-
ship. I figured I could pay back all
the money I received when I was a
student. So I think we're even now."
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