SPORTS 11
Thursday, May 23, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
For John Beilein, his time at Michigan leaves a lasting impact
CLEVELAND
—
This
is
normally enemy territory for
John Beilein.
The former Michigan men’s
basketball
coach
shared
a
laugh with the media at his
introductory press conference
after
calling
Michigan
“the
greatest university in the world.”
“Some of you Ohio State
people may not agree with that,”
Beilein said.
Though his new role as head
coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers
may garner him an “Ohio man”
by some, Beilein spoke candidly
about his 12 years in Ann Arbor
and the impact the support of
the students had on his time with
the program. For Beilein, the
admiration between himself and
the students was mutual.
“One thing I wish, I wish that
I was able to get to know even
more of the students during
that time,” Beilein said after
his
introductory
press conference.
“I wish I could
have been with
(the
students)
sometimes when
(they)
were
watching some of
our games. I hope
(they) realize they
are at the greatest
university in the
world and it’s this
unique blend between athletics
and students, brilliant students,
that is like no other.”
Throughout
his
press
conference, he often referred
to Michigan as “we” and “the
greatest university in the world”
signifying that his time at the
university left an indelible mark
on his experience as a coach.
Beilein
was
arguably the most
beloved coach in
program history.
Immediate
reactions
from
students to him
leaving
were
a
mixture
of
sadness
and
frustration,
but the success
and
passion
he
brought forth for the program
was rarely in question.
Beilein made it crystal clear
at his press conference that the
decision to leave the Wolverines
was one of the most difficult he’s
ever had to make as a coach ––
and perhaps the last job change
he will have to make.
“I hated leaving a great place
like the University
of
Michigan,”
Beilein said. “It
could only be for
something special
like this.”
The
opportunity was
one he could not
pass on, though,
and
he
knew
once he made the
decision to leave,
it would be a hard pill to swallow
for fans and the program, alike.
“The timing was really bad,
but there’s never going to be
a good time,” Beilein said. “I
just don’t know how you end
coaching college basketball if
you’re successful with the timing
right. It’s impossible.”
Added Beilein: “I said I’m
going
to
do
it
and
hopefully
all of the good
things that you
accomplished
at
Michigan
will
be what you’ll be
remembered by.”
Though
his
new home court
now
resides
167
miles
away
from the Crisler
Center, Beilein emphasized that
the impact that the Michigan
community had on him is one he
will always cherish.
JORGE CAZARES
Summer Managing Sports Editor
Beilein excited for the long-term development that NBA offers
CLEVELAND — If there was
one thing that separated former
Michigan coach John Beilein
from the rest of the pack at the
collegiate level, it was his ability
to teach and develop his players
— the same quality that made
him the clear frontrunner for
the Cleveland Cavaliers head
coaching job last week.
Beilein’s reputation as someone
who could extract the most out of
each and every one of his players
was something Cavaliers’ general
manager Koby Altman said he
looked for, in addition to the
common qualities he considered
to be in a great head coach:
culture driver, leader, innovator
and communicator.
“Coach Beilein checked all
(the) boxes to the point where,
after our initial meeting, some of
my guys were looking at us like,
‘What are we doing here? This is
our guy,’” Altman said. “On top
of that, just his incredible track
record in player development.”
Known
as
someone
who
treasures the opportunity to
watch his players grow, Beilein
was often unable to keep players
for longer than a couple years due
to their tendencies to depart for
the pros after spending a short
time in college. As a result, he
preached on how he recruited
players who didn’t treat college
simply as another stop between
making it to the NBA.
With Cleveland, Beilein can
capitalize on player retention
for years to come — a luxury that
was scarce to come by with his
previous jobs.
Rather
than
worrying
about
whether a player
will
make
the
jump
to
the
professional level
after one breakout
year, he can focus
on
continuous
development.
Perhaps an even
greater incentive
is that he can
spend the offseason with the
current roster rather than going
out to find new recruits like
he was forced to do so in the
collegiate scene.
“When you have a kid that is
a freshman and is a very good
player and you only get him one
year, I’m back to coaching junior
college again, so it is nice,” Beilein
said. “The relationships that I
have with the Duncan Robinson’s
and even (Moritz Wagner) for
three years and Muhammad-Ali
(Abdur-Rakhman) and Jordan
Morgan, those guys, Caris LeVert
was four years, those are special
relationships. But you don’t have
enough of it when (players) leave
so early.”
Beilein thinks that Cleveland
boasts some of the best young
talent in the league. With point
guard Collin Sexton at the helm
accompanied
by a plethora of
weapons who also
have
significant
room
to
grow,
Beilein noted that
he would not only
have the privilege
of helping these
players
achieve
their goals, but he
would get to stick
around them for
more than just one or two years.
The
learning
experience
doesn’t just stop with the youth
of the team. Though many players
develop the most during college
as well as their first few years in
the league, Beilein will finally
get the chance to teach players
much older than those in college,
something he’s never done before.
“You never stop learning,”
Beilein said. “You never stop
getting better and that will be
even with our veteran players.
We’ll still be working at the little
things, the skill-level things,
because you got to keep evolving
in this game. But if things
continue, I think it’s (2021), no
one-and-done, they’re gonna be
the same players pretty soon that
we’ve been developing.”
And as far as Beilein’s tenure
with the Cavaliers simply being
a
short-lived
rebuild
similar
to those of recent Cleveland
coaches, he quickly put that
notion to rest.
“We’re gonna take our time
here. We’re gonna put no labels,
we’re gonna put no limits on this
team. We’re just going to do our
best every day. I’m a huge growth
mindset guy, that every day, we’re
just gonna grow a little bit more.”
AKUL VIJAYVARGIYA
Summer Managing Sports Editor
“I wish I could
have been with
(the students)
sometimes”
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Former Michigan men’s basketball coach John Beilein signed with the Cavaliers.
“You never stop
getting better ...
even with our
veteran players”
Former University coach had his introductory press conference with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday
“I hated leaving
a ... place like
the University
of Michigan”