Tuesday, November 6, 2018 // TIP OFF 2018
6B 

Players, assistants, opponents reflect on Beilein ahead of 800th win

Tuesday night against Norfolk 
State, Michigan coach John Beilein 
will begin his 37th season as an 
NCAA head coach. Along the way, 
he has collected 799 career victories, 
from Division III Nazareth College 
to his current 11-year tenure with the 
Wolverines. Ahead of his 800th win, 
The Michigan Daily spoke to former 
players, assistants and opponents to 
learn about their experiences with 
Beilein.

Patrick Beilein, son; guard, 
West Virginia, 2002-06; graduate 
assistant, Michigan, 2008-10

I would just remember always 
being excited to go to the gym 
with him for practice or a game. I 
remember if I couldn’t go to a game 
with him because it was too late on a 
school night, I would give him a toy, 
one of my favorite toys that I thought 
would give luck, and he would put 
it in his suit. So that was just big 
growing up, we looked forward to 
the basketball season because we 
would be able to go to the games, 
practice but also be around the game 
that I obviously grew up to love.
Once I got older, once I got into 
high school, I was able to play with 
the University of Richmond guys in 
the summer and in the spring. So 
that was good for my development. 
But at a young age, my brother and 
I, we would just be there at the gym, 
and we’d be on the side, whether 
dribbling a ball or chasing each other 
around, getting into trouble. So that’s 
how it was.

***

It was great (playing for him), 
I called him ‘Dad’ on the sideline 
all the time just cause that was 
the 
relationship 
we 
had. 
My 
favorite moment, like kinda a son-
father moment, was going into 
my sophomore year, he pulled me 
aside. And I thought I had a decent 
freshman year, he had brought in 
new guys, and I was kinda going 
through the motions to begin the 
start of sophomore year because I 
played my freshman year, I thought 
I was a big shot. He pulled me to 
the side and said, ‘When’s the last 
time you’ve taken a charge, dove for 
a ball, boxed somebody out so hard 
that they fell over? Would you stop 
being a pretty boy and play the game 
the way you were taught to play?’ 
After that, I know that practice, I 
had blood everywhere it seemed like. 

’Cause he was my father figure at the 
time and said, ‘You’re better than 
this,’ and that I disrespected him. So 
that was my favorite moment, and I 
never looked back from that.

Isaiah 
Livers, 
forward, 
Michigan, 2017-present

Coach (Beilein) is an amazing 
coach. I’ve never met any coach like 
this, especially on the visit, how he 
carries himself and what he stands 
for. He cares about the players so 
much to the point where, if you 
make the decision to stop playing 
basketball, just give him a reason — 
just give him a good, constructive 
reason, and he’ll support you all 
the way no matter what. That’s 
just insane to me, like he cares 
more about your school than your 
basketball career.
(The first time I met him), we 
talked about baseball. I was a 
huge baseball fan. I loved baseball, 
baseball was my first love. And 
I think when we connected on 
baseball, that took our relationship 
to another step. 

Ignas 
Brazdeikis, 
forward, 
Michigan, 2018-present

He was exactly the same (during 
the recruiting process) as he is now, 
that’s the one thing I absolutely 
love about him. Everything he said, 
everything he told me was the same 
and he was just an honest guy. Like 
really, really honest and he never lied 
and I felt like I could trust him.

Saddi Washington, assistant 
coach, Michigan, 2016-present

Man, it’s been awesome (working 
with Beilein). I think that the biggest 
thing that you learn under coach 
Beilein is just, he’s an excellent CEO. 
But even more than that, he’s just 
a great person, you know? And I 
think the genuineness that he treats 
everybody with and the authenticity 
that comes across when he engages 
not just our players or recruits but 
our kids, our spouses and everybody 
in between. And I think, if anybody 
is deserving of the accolades that he 
gets, certainly it’s coach Beilein.
His attention to detail in every 
aspect of the program is like none 
other. And I think that’s why we’re 
able to operate with great efficiency, 
both on and off the court. I think 
that’s a huge strength of his that I 
hope that I am able to absorb and 
acquire moving forward.

Austin 
Davis, 
forward, 

Michigan, 2016-present

It’s really been amazing (playing 
under Beilein). I feel like he’s one 
of the few coaches that genuinely 
focuses on bettering each one of us 
as a man, not just as a player but as a 
man, and for the rest of our lives. He 
really, really instills a lot of our core 
values into us and makes sure that 
we always consider those and live 
every day by those. So I think he’s a 
great coach to play for and wouldn’t 
have wanted to play for anybody else.

Moritz 
Wagner, 
forward, 
Michigan, 2015-18

He was always really hard on me, 
and I — something I felt I was the 
blame for everything. But after my 
sophomore year, I understood that 
was the way he wanted to get me 
better. … It was for my sake. He sees 
the potential in you, and eventually 
I committed to that and said, ‘Ok, 
whatever. I know what you’re doing, 
so let’s work together.’ I don’t really 
know if I have a specific story but 
that’s just what I’ve experienced. 
Coach Beilein really cares about 
his players. I still have a really good 
relationship with him, try to talk to 
him as much as I can. And yeah, it 
was the best decision of my life to go 
there, 100-percent.

DJ Wilson, forward, Michigan, 
2014-17

He’s a great person. That’s one of 
the sole reasons why I chose to go 
to Michigan, just him and his staff 
at the time. I just felt like they were 
genuine people, me and my family 
both got that vibe, it was kinda just 
natural. Then, just playing under 
him, he stuck with me when he 
coulda went elsewhere, he had other 
players to recruit. He never really 
recruited over me, he just stuck with 
me and everything worked out for 
the both of us. So that speaks to his 
character and the type of person he 
is.
I thought he was a great guy, I 
thought he was real genuine. Like I 
said, that’s something that I kinda 
observed. Especially, you know, 
going into college, as far as what I 
was looking for in a coach because, 
I don’t know, it’s kinda like you plan 
on being with that coach for the next 
four years so you kinda just want 
to look for somebody that you can 
relate to and be real down to earth. 
Because you’re gonna spend a while 
with them so that’s a vibe I got from 
him.
I think it’s just all around with 
everything that he does. He plays by 
the rules, he never does anything in 
any grey area, he’s honest, he’s a man 
of his word. And then, I just talked 

to a few players at Michigan at the 
time when I was on my visit and they 
kept it real, they kept it honest with 
me, and they had nothing but good 
things to say about him.

Spike 
Albrecht, 
guard, 
Michigan, 2012-16

I played AAU with Mitch McGary 
and Glenn Robinson, and they were 
both already committed to Michigan 
at the time. So my AAU coach, when 
he started catching wind of this Trey 
Burke situation, he reached out to 
coach Beilein like ‘Hey, I got a guy 
you should look at for a point guard, 
just like insurance policy, basically, 
if Trey leaves. And he was like ‘Hey, 
he doesn’t really look the part but 
you should go give him a call or go 
see him.’ Coach Beilein told me I 
didn’t pass the eyeball test, is what 
he told me. He still tells a story, when 
he came in, he did an in-home visit 
with me back at my house in Crown 
Point and he got out of the car and 
was walking up, I came outside to 
come say ‘hi’ and greet him, welcome 
him into my house. But, like, my 
driveway’s kinda on a slant so he, 
like, got out, and I was on the low 
end, and he was looking at me, and 
he was like, ‘Holy shit, who is this 
little dude. Like, I can’t believe I’m 
gonna recruit this kid to play in the 
Big Ten.’

THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Writer

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Michigan coach John Beilein has collected 799 career wins over 36 seasons as a head coach, 11 of which have been at Michigan.

