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Thursday, May 30, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS
Report: Luke Yaklich to accept assistant coaching position at Texas
Luke Yaklich built up Michigan
from a defensive liability to a
defensive
powerhouse.
Now,
he’ll try to work that same magic
at Texas.
Shortly
after
coach
John
Beilein left Michigan to become
the coach of the Cleveland
Cavaliers, Yaklich, too, will leave
after accepting a position as an
assistant coach of the Longhorns,
per a report from CBS Sports’
Jon Rothstein. A call to Yaklich
went unreturned and a Michigan
spokesperson did not respond to
a request for comment.
Yaklich also interviewed for
the Wolverines’ head coaching
job on May 17, but was not
offered the position. Instead, the
job went to former player Juwan
Howard — known as a defensive
guru during his time as an
assistant with the NBA’s Miami
Heat. Beilein was primarily an
offensive coach, necessitating
the presence of someone like
Yaklich to serve as a defensive
coordinator of sorts. The same
isn’t necessarily true of Howard.
Losing Yaklich hurts in more
ways than one. He was a teacher
at his core, and his specialty was
getting even the biggest skeptics
to care about defense. When
he got buy-in at Michigan, the
defense turned around in just one
season. Having two defensive
stalwarts
in
guard
Zavier
Simpson and center Jon Teske
still in tow, and a new coach in
Howard who has defense as his
calling card, may prevent too
big of a defensive drop-off, but a
ripple effect could come in other
ways.
When a head coach leaves
in the offseason — especially
in mid-May — it’s often the
first domino that can lead to
assistants subsequently finding
new positions, as Yaklich did,
and often causes a string of
decommits and transfers who
realize that the program no
longer looks like the one they
originally committed to. Yaklich
was a strong recruiter who
formed bonds with many of his
players, and some could decide
that without Yaklich, they’d
rather be elsewhere.
Yaklich was originally hired
from Illinois State prior to
the 2017 season. With him,
the Wolverines finished their
seasons
ranked
third
and
second, respectively, in adjusted
defensive efficiency, according
to KenPom. In 10 previous
seasons under Beilein, they had
never finished better than 37th.
Reports
have
stated
that
Howard
is
looking
for
an
experienced assistant to round
out the first-time head coach’s
staff.
But replacing Yaklich will be
a mammoth task and now, the
clock is ticking for Howard to do
just that.
ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Editor
KATELYN MUCALHY/Daily
Michigan assistant Luke Yaklich accepted an assistant coach position at Texas.
How Juwan Howard secured Cole Bajema’s recommitment
The past week has been, as
Shane Bajema puts it, quite
simply “a blur.”
But at the end of it all, Cole
Bajema — Shane’s son and a 2019
four-star wing — recommitted
to the Wolverines on Friday
night, 11 days after John Beilein
left Michigan to become the
Cleveland Cavaliers’ head coach.
With the decision to recommit,
Bajema currently stands as new
coach Juwan Howard’s only
commitment in the 2019 class,
making him a critical piece of
Michigan’s puzzle for 2019 and
beyond.
“The
departure
of
Coach
Beilein came as a big surprise,”
Bajema tweeted Friday night.
“Given coach Beilein recruited
me, I am sad to see him go but
fully support him in his new
venture at the Cavaliers. I cannot
thank
the
entire
Michigan
basketball staff enough for their
support.
“Having patiently waited for
Michigan to name its new head
coach, I am very excited Juwan
Howard is the new head coach.
I believe he will uphold the
great culture, that is Michigan
basketball. I know there’s a lot
of speculation out there but I
am ALL IN for coach Howard
and ready to report in June! Go
Blue!”
The decision to recommit,
though, wasn’t always so simple.
Bajema has been committed
to
Michigan
since
Aug.
14
of last year, but the original
commitment came to Beilein,
who Shane described as having
done “a great job of preparing
Cole
for
the
entire
college
experience.” But after 11 days of
calls from Beilein and Howard,
as well as athletic director Warde
Manuel and the Wolverines’
assistant coaches, Bajema felt
confident that the program he
will be entering next season is
the same one he committed to
nearly a year ago.
Bajema did not respoond to
a text from The Daily Saturday
morning. He has yet to make
any public comment outside of
Twitter since Beilein announced
his departure.
“The key factor in Cole coming
to the University of Michigan was
really a coaching compatibility
decision at a great university,”
Shane told The Daily. “Then,
when that transition goes off
and you wonder what’s gonna be
next, it’s all about relationships
and trust and continuity with
the next coach. … But I think
they made a great decision in
choosing another person to carry
out the legacy, of what is more
than just Beilein’s legacy, but the
Michigan legacy.”
Critically, Howard was not the
only one to reach out to Bajema
after his hiring. Amidst the
blurred flurry of conversations
with those inside the program,
Shane doesn’t remember exactly
when the first call came, but he
knows it came from Manuel.
And as Manuel talked, Shane’s
confidence in Michigan came
rushing back.
Going
into
the
call,
he
wasn’t familiar with Howard
as a person, but he quickly
felt
Manuel
made
a
“great
decision,” continuing the legacy
and culture that Beilein built.
Shortly
thereafter,
Howard,
too, reached out, confirming his
interest in Cole as a key player in
the transition from Beilein to the
future.
“Juwan and (Cole) had a
conversation
and
basically
agreed that Cole’s his first real
recruit in his college coaching
career,” Shane said. “The baton,
basically, handed from Beilein
to Juwan in recruitment of Cole
and that’s what really put Cole
over the edge and reassured that
he could become Juwan’s guy
too.
“… It was genuine, it was real,
it wasn’t this recruiting talk.
(Howard) is genuinely ecstatic
to be the coach. And he seemed
genuinely pumped to have Cole.”
And
when
Beilein
called,
telling the Bajemas that “Juwan’s
gonna be a great guy,” and calling
it “a perfect fit,” the comfort
level only grew.
Then,
Friday
afternoon,
the final boost came when
Howard announced that Jon
Sanderson would be staying on
as the Wolverines’ strength and
conditioning coach. Sanderson
and Shane have developed a
close relationship throughout
the recruiting process, as he
has become one of Cole’s key
recruiters.
And though Cole’s workouts
with Sanderson haven’t begun
yet, his personal trainer back
home is a friend of Sanderson’s
and has helped him add 22
pounds over the past seven
months.
“As a future mentor of players
and our son, Cole, I can not
say more good things about
(Sanderson),” Shane said. “Could
you ask for a more ideal person to
train Cole’s physical body in the
future?”
Starting a few weeks from
now, when Cole reports to Ann
Arbor for Michigan’s summer
bridge program, Sanderson will
be doing just that. Officially.
THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Editor
Courtesy of Getty Images
Michigan basketball coach Juwan Howard retained incoming recruit Cole Bajema.