4 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. 4 4 4 4 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- 4 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." 4 }+