The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/418536
BY CHRIS BALAS B efore coming to Michigan, John Beilein had a plan. Yes, the blueprint included com- peting for Big Ten champion- ships and Final Fours, and develop- ing players through hard work and fundamentals. And yes, he expected Michigan's reputation both academi- cally and in basketball would open a few more doors on the recruiting trail. It just wasn't as easy as he thought. "I remember one of our first kids, [center] Ben Cronin, asking me, 'Coach, was Michigan ever good in basketball?'" Beilein recalled during one press conference last year. When he arrived, after all, it had been nine years since the Wolverines had last made the NCAA Tournament and 20 since they'd won a Big Ten ti- tle. There was the 1989 championship team and the Fab Five, but other than that a once-proud program had stag- nated and then regressed. So Beilein came in with a slightly altered design, but with the same idea — to change the culture by unearthing some hidden gems on the recruiting trail, mix in a few blue chippers and turn a melting pot of talent into con- tenders. Seven years later, his teams have captured two Big Ten titles (one out- right), just missed another, have been to five NCAA Tournaments — losing their first game only once — and ad- vanced to an Elite Eight and a national championship game. Seven of his U-M players have already seen time in the NBA, and every member of the starting five from the 2013 Final Four squad is now on an NBA roster. Two of them, point guard Trey Burke (Utah) and shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr. (New York), were in the top five of NBA Rookie of the Year voting last year. There's all kind of turnover but still plenty of success, and Beilein can only smile and shake his head at what the program has become. THE EVOLUTION OF A PROGRAM John Beilein Has Adapted To Turn U-M Into A Perennial Contender