John Beilein is the man
According to Brian at the MGoBlog, who has been closely monitoring the message board insanity in a way that I wouldn't ever want to subject myself to, says insiders at both the WVU and Michigan Rivals boards are saying that Beilein will be the new face of the Wolverines hoop program.
Until the hire gets leaked to the MSM, it sounds as if it's as done a deal as it can be.
I'm going to have to let this sink in a little before I can truly judge my feelings. But my gut is telling me is that this is a safe hire, and definitely not a home run. It's a ground rule double.
When you hire a supposedly "Do more with less" kind of coach, it just comes off as Michigan selling themselves short as a basketball school.
This will be the "New" Michigan basketball...
Recruit a middling ranked class, program type guys, the sort that stay all 4 years. There will be very few, if any, of the high level kids that might leave for the NBA after a year or two. Expect a couple of years of going to the NIT, maybe be a NCAA bubble team. Once that recruiting class matures, they'll make the big tournament as juniors and seniors, say as 4 or 5 seeds. Win a round or two in the NCAA's. Make the sweet sixteen, occasionally an elite eight, if you get some breaks. That class graduates. Then Beilein will start the cycle all over again...
Odds are that the Wolverines AD, and especially the old school, big money alumni, the sort that complain of noise at Crisler Arena, and of fans standing at the Big House, will be happy with a middle of the road Big 10 team. One that will be competitive every few years, not be a annual threat. Much like the last few years at West Virginia.
Is that good enough for Michigan basketball? The old TWFE magic 8-ball says, "All signs point to yes."
Update 10 PM - I might as well remove the question mark from the post title, as the Freep is reoprting that Beilein has accepted Michigan's job offer, and will become their new basketball head coach. No word yet on when we'll find out if Beilein gives good presser.
A do more with less coach? I would agree. Your implication that Michigan basketball will now recruit a bunch of mid level guys nobody has heard of that will stick around for 4 years and keep improving is a bit strange, though, and I strongly disagree.
ReplyDeleteBeilein has proven that he can win a lot of games at programs incapable of attracting topnotch talent. Richmond? WVU? Canisius? He didn't have a prayer at landing a top 100 player at any of those schools.
Now? He's moving on up in the world to a school with a name that gets his foot in the door with nearly every kid in the midwest and a bunch of great talent from coast to coast. He wants to see how much he can accomplish with a roster of 4 and 5 star players. Granted, he won't take the kids just because they are ranked highly. He'll still target kids that are skilled and can shoot and pass. Only instead of going after a 3 star from the middle of nowhere, he'll be targeting somebody like DeShawn Sims or Chris Douglas Roberts or Malik Hairston that can do everything on the court.
What Beilein has accomplished at West Virginia is sort of the floor for what to expect at Michigan. I mean worst case scenario he can recruit the exact same players he got at WVU. Best case? Sky is the limit for a guy that has never had the opportunity to teach elite talent.