Beilein met with Cavaliers Owner Dan Gilbert on Friday, and negotiations escalated quickly from thereGETTY IMAGES
The Cavaliers have named John Beilein their new head coach, and it is "impossible not to view" his decision to leave Michigan as "anything less than seriously bad news" for college basketball, according to Dana O'Neil of THE ATHLETIC. One college coach said, "When John Beilein goes to the NBA, it tells you how f---ed up college basketball is" (THEATHLETIC.com, 5/13). SI.com's Michael Rosenberg wrote the "rampant cheating in the sport had to bother Beilein." If a sport "loses John Beilein, that sport has a problem" (SI.com, 5/13). In Detroit, Bob Wojnowski writes the move is "not good for college basketball, which needs more high-integrity coaches like Beilein" (DETROIT NEWS, 5/14). Also in Detroit, Mitch Albom writes the game Beilein "loved coming up doesn’t work the same way anymore," and he "was tiring" of college basketball's current structure (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 5/14). In Columbus, Rob Oller writes Beilein "had grown tired of the early exits" in the one-and-done era, and "now looks forward to being on the other side" (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 5/14).
BIG CHALLENGE FOR BIG BLUE: Michigan AD Warde Manuel in a statement said he will "commence a full national search" for Beilein's replacement. In Detroit, John Niyo writes if this is not Manuel's "biggest test yet," it is "at least his most public-facing one." Fans are "about to find out how well he prepared for this moment" (DETROIT NEWS, 5/14). Manuel: "I wish him well, but it did hit me by surprise." He said of the coaching search, "I want to get it right" (DETROIT NEWS, 5/14).
GOING PRO: THE ATHLETIC's Jason Lloyd wrote for the Cavaliers, this "certainly appears" to be a hire influenced by Owner Dan Gilbert. Just as he "aggressively pursued Michigan State’s Tom Izzo nearly a decade ago, Gilbert met with Beilein on Friday night and negotiations escalated quickly." Moving fast was the "surest way to get him" (THEATHLETIC.com, 5/13). In Cleveland, Doug Lesmerises writes under the header, "John Beilein Is A Smart Choice For The Rebuilding Cavs After Rebuilding Michigan Basketball" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 5/14). But in Toledo, David Briggs wonders if Gilbert and the Cavaliers are "capable of constructing a winner" without LeBron James. The "only constant with Gilbert is his big spending but aimless, impetuous, and hubristic leadership" (TOLEDO BLADE, 5/14).
TWITTER REAX: SI's Jake Fischer: "During my reporting on the college basketball federal investiagation, one integral source described the former Michigan man as: 'The only high-major head coach I’m sure has never cheated.' For him to leave college hoops is pretty telling." Nashville Tennessean's Joe Rexrode: "The culture of Michigan's program under John Beilein was the best I've seen in my lifetime." N.Y. Post's Mike Vaccaro: "I understand the shock that John Beilein left Michigan for the NBA, but not the hysteria. He has coached at every level but this one, and now he gives the NBA a try where he can likely spend his final professional years simply coaching." Georgia Tech broadcaster Andy Demetra: "Beilein has now been a head coach in high school, junior college, Division III, Division II, Division I, and the NBA. Salute to the grinders."
