College basketball suffers a huge blow with loss of John Beilein to the NBA
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – College basketball has suffered a significant setback with John Beilein having left Michigan to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers.
His decision was surprising to say the least, considering Beilein is 66 years old and had a good thing going at Michigan where he was winning at a high rate and nicely compensated, and deservedly so.
Beilein built the Wolverines into a national power and it was easy to assume that he would retire from that job.
But something caused Beilein to make this decision, and that something appears to be the state of big-time college basketball, which leaves much to be desired from an ethics standpoint and from a rules standpoint.
It seems that Beilein had grown tired of today’s one-and-done environment where there is little roster continuity and where want-to-be agents have more influence in some cases than parents and coaches.
Beilein lost three more players to the 2019 NBA Draft who had eligibility remaining, including Big Ten Freshman of the Year Ignas Brazdeikis, and always having to restock your roster can wear on a head coach.
College is simply an unavoidable pit stop for the top recruits, so maybe Beilein just didn’t want to be a part of that anymore.
Maybe all the scandal and corruption that has festered for years throughout the recruiting landscape finally became too much for the squeaky clean Beilein to handle.
And if so, that’s a shame and a major concern for big-time college basketball.
John Beilein stood for everything that is good about college basketball, from his knowledge and wisdom to his humility and grace to his passion for teaching and developing his players on and off the court.
Beilein hasn't given any specific reasons for what led to this change, but it's easy to convince yourself that he left the college game because it's not what it used to be in terms of obeying the rules, and hasn't been for a while.
Beilein was sort of college basketball’s version of Kirk Ferentz in that it was always about the players and the team, and never about him.
His departure now moves Iowa coach Fran McCaffery into third place in the Big Ten in coaching longevity behind Tom Izzo from Michigan State and Purdue’s Matt Painter.
Beilein’s departure also leaves Michigan searching for a new head coach, but the good news is that Beilein leaves behind a great job at a great school.
Michigan will always be known as a football school, but it seems highly unlikely that Beilein left after 12 seasons in Ann Arbor because of that reason.
The fact that Beilein is leaving to coach the Cavaliers adds to the surprise element, or maybe we should’ve seen this coming, because remember, Beilein reportedly thought about leaving Michigan not long ago to coach the Detroit Pistons.
It would be different from a perception standpoint if LeBron James still was playing for the Cavaliers because you could rationalize that Beilein was combining forces with an NBA legend in order to meet a challenge at the highest level before retiring.
However, the Cavaliers are rebuilding, but maybe that’s what appeals to Beilein because he can really put his stamp on the team.
Beilein started coaching at the high school level in the mid-1970s and has steadily climbed the ladder while being a head coach the whole time.
Much about the college game has changed along the way, but Beilein has stayed the same as a person, and maybe’s that’s why he is leaving.
He has certainly evolved as a head coach, but Beilein still is the same in regard to his core values and his beliefs.
And it would get frustrating always having to update your roster to offset early departures.
Whatever the case, college basketball is worse without John Beilein because he truly is one of the good guys, a model of character and class, and Michigan was fortunate to have him as head coach for 12 seasons.
College basketball was fortunate to have Beilein for so long, but his departure leaves a huge void for a sport that can’t afford to lose somebody with that much integrity.