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Thursday, August 3, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
John Beilein had to replace two members of his staff this offseason after Billy Donlon and Jeff Meyer took jobs elsewhere.
Report: Michigan adds two former
Illinois State assistants to staff
The Michigan basketball team
appears to have filled two vacant
assistant coaching positions this past
week — and both hires are from the
same school.
As
first
reported
by
Josh
Henschke of The Michigan Insider
and Brendan Quinn of The Athletic,
Luke Yaklich and Deandre Haynes
will both be making the move to
Michigan from Illinois State. They
are set to replace Billy Donlon
and Jeff Meyer, who departed
the program this offseason for
jobs at Northwestern and Butler,
respectively. The school has yet to
confirm either hire.
As an associate head coach this
past season, Yaklich comes to the
Wolverines fresh off a record-
breaking season with the Redbirds
in which the team set a program
record with 28 total wins. Yaklich
spent over 10 years as a head coach
at the high school and AAU levels
before joining the Illinois State staff
in 2013 as an assistant.
Of note, the Illinois State website
frequently attributes the team’s
recent success in the classroom — the
Redbirds set a program record for
GPA last season — to Yaklich, noting
that he was in charge of academics
with the team. In addition, his ties
to the AAU circuit make him a viable
recruiter and should help replace the
void left by Donlon and Meyer on the
trail.
Unlike Yaklich, Haynes actually
never coached for Illinois State,
spending a mere two months with
the program. Haynes most recently
coached as an assistant at Toledo
for one season after beginning his
coaching career at Kent State. With
ties to the Michigan area — Haynes
grew up in Detroit and played at
Southwestern High School — he
should provide a boost in the ever-
competitive
in-state
recruiting
battles.
Both Yaklich and Haynes fit the
mold of the type of hires Michigan
coach John Beilein makes. They’re
both relatively young and played
basketball collegiately — both which
seem to be prerequisites to becoming
an assistant coach under Beilein.
Entering the season, one of the
major storylines will be whether
or not the Wolverines can replicate
their defensive improvements from
a year ago. Donlon, brought in a
year ago to shore up one of the worst
defenses in the league, helped lead
Michigan to the third-best scoring
defense in the Big Ten last season.
Yaklich comes to Michigan with
a defensive background, having
guided the Redbirds to the sixth
best opponent effective field goal
percentage (a metric adjusted to
account for the value of three-point
attempts) in the nation.
With Donlon gone, and DJ
Wilson and Zak Irvin off to the NBA,
Yaklich in particular could be tasked
with maintaining the Wolverines’
defensive competence.
Hiring fresh staff is nothing new
for Beilein. He has had to replace
two assistants each of the past two
offseasons. Meyer, in fact, will be
joining the staff of former Wolverines
assistant Lavall Jordan at Butler. The
high rate of staff turnover comes
with its positives and negatives.
Bringing in new assistants each
year forces an inevitable transition
period as the players and coaches
become
acquainted
with
each
other and the systems they are
implementing. Having a volatile
coaching
staff
also
can
make
recruiting more difficult — though
that risk is minimized as long as
Beilein remains head coach.
But when the younger assistants
leave Michigan it tends to be for
head coaching jobs or higher-profile
gigs. This, in turn, makes Michigan
an attractive destination for coaches
looking for a launching pad to
bigger jobs; an allure to good, young
coaches even beyond Michigan’s
natural appeal.
After the month-long search, the
two hires have filled the coaching
staff for the upcoming season.
MAX MARCOVITCH
Daily Sports Writer
Just two days after pulling
four-star linebacker Cameron
McGrone,
the
Michigan
football team has received
another commitment for his
2018 recruiting
class.
Three-star
Naples,
Fla.
cornerback
Sammy Faustin
announced
his
commitment
Wednesday
afternoon,
becoming
the
thirteenth
recruit
to
join
the
Wolverines’
2018
recruiting class.
Though he’s ranked just
78th amongst cornerbacks and
No. 870 nationally, Faustin has
long-been on Michigan’s eye
and was impressed with the
team’s annual BBQ recruiting
event last weekend, according
to Steve Lorenz of 247Sports.
“He’s a guy who (defensive
coordinator)
Don
Brown
absolutely loves — a guy the
staff has been fighting for
a lot,” Lorenz said. “There
are
other
defensive
backs
Michigan is still recruiting,
but Brown is a big advocate for
this kid.”
ESPN describes him as a
“versatile defender who can
play outside and projects as
a free safety”
because
of
“ball
skills”
but needs to
improve on his
“strength in his
tackling
and
consistency
of
footwork.”
Per MaxPreps,
Faustin
made
39 tackles with
an interception
and two forced fumbles last
season.
And at 6’2” and 170 pounds,
Faustin has the type of frame
that Brown looks for from
members
of
his
defensive
backfield.
Faustin — who has offers
from over 20 schools — is
the
Wolverines’
fourth
commitment
from
a
2018
conerback, joining four-stars
Myles Sims and Germon Green
and three-star Gemon Green.
MARK CALCAGNO
Daily Sports Writer
“He’s a guy who
Don Brown
absolutly loves.”
Sammy Faustin, a three-star defensive
back, announced his decision on Twitter
Wolverines nab
another commitment
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Don Brown was the primary recruiter for Faustin, a rangy defensive back.