The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/106890
the Wolverines to a Big Ten championship. "He must have had an issue early in the year," Dakich said. "They suspended him, so he must have had a situation, but Burke, to me, has always been a mature guy. He's always been the kind of guy that, at least on the outside, you'd want to have leading your team. "He's levelheaded, grounded, solid, seems to be a team-first guy. But you get to a different level in college basketball when you're having the kind of year, on a national stage, that he's having. The NIT [Season Tip-Off] — those are national games. To play as well as he has, and have everyone talking about you the way we are, kids pay attention to that." For both Burke and Hardaway, Dakich insisted, the key remains how they mesh together, and the unselfishness they demonstrate in leading the Wolverines together. To that end, they're in good hands, the former coach pointed out. Dakich actually agreed to take the West Virginia job before Beilein was hired back in 2002. But Dakich felt the program was in such a state of disrepair, he pulled out, giving him great respect for Michigan's head coach and a good jab for him. "What John did at West Virginia, and I was there before him — in fact he owes me money, because I saved his damned career by leaving — was one of the most remarkable jobs," Dakich said. "I'm telling you … in fact, it was the most remarkable job I've ever seen in college basketball. Three years, final eight, where that thing was a complete and utter train wreck." Beilein has a way, Dakich said, of pulling everything together. That includes working as a master chemist. "I've never coached with John, but his teams have seemingly never had an issue," Dakich said. "They've never had issues with chemistry. He's had a kid or two quit, but hell, if you haven't had a kid or two quit, you're coaching seventh-grade basketball. "That's the maturity. When you go to college, you go to Michigan and you're good, there is a certain level of confidence you have in yourself. What happens is, things get a little difficult and you've got to make a decision. How am I going to handle it? "You get to a different level because of your confidence. You get to a different relationship with your coaching staff because of your leadership. All of that adds to it. All of a sudden, now you go scoreless in the first half, but you know how good you are. You're not worried about it. You're going to do something great in the second half. It's an interesting dynamic, watching those kids." Moving On Up Dakich believes Michigan's backcourt will do nothing but get better, provided the Wolverines continue working together without major distractions. "I look at Michigan and think, who has what they have?" Dakich said. "I would include Stauskas in there. I don't know them, because