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”

