John
Beilein’s
contract
extension, announced by the
University on Wednesday, will
see the men’s basketball coach
paid $3.8 million annually.
The extension, which will keep
Beilein in Ann Arbor through
the 2022-23 season, amounts to
a raise of roughly $400,000 per
season. This maintains Beilein
as
the
second-highest-paid
coach based on annual salary
in the Big Ten behind Michigan
State’s Tom Izzo. It comes just
weeks after Beilein’s flirtation
with the Detroit Pistons — a
job that ultimately went to
former Toronto Raptors coach
Dwane Casey.
In his 11 seasons at Michigan,
Beilein
boasts
a
248-143
record, including eight NCAA
Tournament
appearances.
He led the Wolverines to
the Final Four and National
Championship Game in both
2013 and 2018, the most recent
of which made an extension all
but inevitable. Beilein heads
into the 2018-19 campaign
with 799 career wins in college
basketball — starting at Erie
Community College and, likely,
ending in Ann Arbor.
The
contract,
obtained
by
The Daily, via a Freedom of
Information
Act
request,
establishes
a
$400,000
base salary for Beilein with
$1.9
million
in
additional
compensation
and
$1.5
million
being
put
into
a
403(b) Supplemental Defined
Contribution Retirement Plan.
Officially, it’s not a lifetime
contract, but it is in all but
name — and the Wolverines are
selling it to recruits as such.
Beilein
will
also
receive
$25,000 in bonuses for each
NCAA game won, along with
another $25,000 for an NCAA
Tournament berth, a Big Ten
Tournament championship or
a share of the Big Ten regular
season title. If Michigan wins
the Big Ten outright, his bonus
jumps to $50,000.
Beilein’s buyout is $3 million
if fired this upcoming season
and drops to $2 million in
2019-20. From there, it drops
by $500,000 each year until
the
2022-23
season,
after
which Michigan can terminate
Beilein’s
contract
without
worrying about a buyout.
Among
other
benefits:
Beilein will be reimbursed
for
first-class
airfare
and
will be entitled to 10 hours of
private air travel within the
continental United States per
year. Those hours roll over for
an additional year if unused.
Also included are six season
tickets to Michigan football
games and eight such tickets to
basketball games.
The full contract can be found
online at MichiganDaily.com
KATELYN MULCAHY / DAILY
Michigan assistant coach Luke Yaklich lends his insight on the Jordan Poole, the talented new freshman team and more
12
Thursday, June 26, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS
In years past, the Michigan
basketball team operated under the
mantra “The best defense is a good
offense.” They suffocated opposing
defenses
with
their
3-point
shooting, but their own defense
sometimes held them back. Last
season, though, the Wolverines
flipped the script. They ranked
third in the country in Adjusted
Defense, according to KenPom.
com. That was largely thanks to
new assistant Luke Yaklich from
Illinois State.
Under Yaklich, younger players
like
sophomore
guard
Zavier
Simpson developed into defensive
stalwarts, but even junior forward
Moritz
Wagner
and
fifth-year
senior wing Duncan Robinson —
veterans whose defensive presence
was
previously
almost
non-
existent — vastly improved. With
a down year for the offense, the
new defensive mindset helped lead
Michigan to the national title game.
Yaklich,
meanwhile,
is
just
getting started, and this year he will
have the country’s No. 8 recruiting
class to work with.
“Our entire coaching staff, it’s a
great learning environment every
day. And then obviously learning
from our players what Michigan is
all about, the culture. (The players
are) 100 percent invested in that.
They helped me … just showed me
what Michigan basketball is about.
That was a huge part of my own
growth.”
Now, it’s a symbiotic relationship.
The players come excited to learn,
making Yaklich’s job much easier.
And the culture that Beilein and the
players built up was unparalleled.
“Integrity (and) accountability
are two of our core values. We live
those out every day,” Yaklich said.
“… When it’s part of your culture,
it’s part of your behavior, and that’s
again, our focus each and every
day.”
On his relationship with Colin
Castleton
Incoming freshman center Colin
Castleton didn’t originally draw
a lot of college interest. But one of
the first schools that contacted him
was Illinois State — an effort led by
Yaklich. When Yaklich joined the
Wolverines, he continued contact
with Castleton. Now, at Michigan,
the two will be reunited.
“When I got to Michigan,
(Castleton) built himself up to that
point where he was something we
needed,” Yaklich said. “We just
struck up that relationship again
and started right where we left off.
It’s been fun following him through
that process.”
Castleton will compete with
junior Jon Teske and redshirt
sophomore
Austin
Davis
for
minutes at the center position.
On the development of the
underclassmen
The Wolverines’ run to the title
game was largely led by veterans —
from Wagner to Robinson to senior
guard
Muhammad-Ali
Abdur-
Rahkman. But from freshman
guard Jordan Poole’s buzzer-beater
to propel Michigan to the Sweet
Sixteen to redshirt sophomore
guard Charles Matthew earning the
West Region’s Most Outstanding
Player award, the underclassmen
showed that the Wolverines’ future
is bright.
“They’ve
learned
from
(Robinson, Wagner and Abdur-
Rahkman),” Yaklich said. “ … It’s a
pleasure seeing their growth from
last year to this year. (They’re) all
veterans in their own little ways.
A lot of it is their approach to the
game and understanding what it
took to do what we did last year,
and the role our seniors had in that.
They want to have the same type of
goal, leadership style and legacy.”
On Jordan Poole
Everyone remembers Poole for
his buzzer-beater against Houston
and his viral video set to Drake’s
“In My Feelings.” But entering his
sophomore year, Poole has a whole
career ahead of him. With the
graduation
of
Abdur-Rahkman,
Poole will have the opportunity
to step up — not just in the role of
shooting guard, but aslso as one of
the team’s leaders.
“A lot of fans outside the
stadium see the dance moves and
the smiley face, but behind it is
a really competitive player that
comes out every day and wants to
be a leader,” Yaklich said. “That is
the fun part about Jordan Poole.
He’s comfortable in his own skin,
but he’s a leader, wants Michigan
to be really good and is working to
improve himself in the process.
“He’s a special player.”
Beilein gets $3.8 million
annually with new deal
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Notebook: Yaklich on new team
KATELYN MULCAHY / DAILY
Michigan coach John Beilein signed a contract extension through 2023 season
ETHAN SEARS
Daily Sports Writer
&
MAX MARCOVITCH
Daily Sports Editor