Michigan Basketball Coach John Beilein will step down from Michigan to coach NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — University of Michigan Donald R. Shepherd Director of Athletics Warde Manuel announced today (Monday, May 13) that John Beilein will be stepping down as the Wolverines men’s basketball coach to take the head coaching position with the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers.

“I was saddened when John told me this morning of his decision to leave Michigan for a head coaching position in the NBA. However, I am incredibly thankful for his 12 years of service to this university,” said Manuel. “Above and beyond being our all-time winningest coach, John is a tremendous role model for the game of college basketball. He is an outstanding educator, community member and a man of great integrity, and he and Kathleen will be missed. My priority now is to commence a full national search for our next basketball coach.”

“I want to thank the University of Michigan for what has been a truly special home and remarkable place for my family and I for the last 12 years,” said Beilein in a statement with the Cavaliers. “We have achieved great success together, and we could not have done it without the incredible support of our administration, coaches, players, staff, students, fans and the entire university community. We shared some of the best moments of my life together, and I will always be grateful for that. At the same time, I felt very strongly about this new and exciting opportunity with the Cavaliers.

“I am very thankful to Dan Gilbert and Koby Altman and honored to be the head coach of the Cavaliers. I love the position the team is in to build and grow, and this was something I felt was the perfect fit for me. With hard work and dedication by all of us, we will grow this team day by day and reinforce a culture of success that sustains itself with strong core values. Cleveland is a great city with amazing fans, and I am really looking forward to calling Cleveland home for years to come.”

In his 12 seasons with Michigan, Beilein compiled a 278-149 record and led the Wolverines to a pair of national championship game appearances (2013, ’18) en route to becoming the winningest coach in program history. Under Beilein’s tutelage, Michigan made nine NCAA Tournament appearances, won two Big Ten regular-season titles, including the program’s first outright crown in 28 years in 2014, and captured back-to-back Big Ten Tournament titles.

In his 41 years as a collegiate head coach, Beilein compiled a career record of 829-468 (.639), recorded 20-plus-win seasons on 23 occasions, and finished with a winning record in 35 of those seasons. Beilein has 20 career postseason appearances — 13 in the NCAA Division I Tournament, six in the NIT and one in the NCAA Division II Tournament. With the nine trips to the Big Dance with U-M, Beilein is one of 14 coaches to have taken four different schools to the NCAA Tournament — Canisius (1996), Richmond (1998), West Virginia (2005, ’06) and Michigan (2009, ’11, ’12, ’13, ’14, ’16, ’17, ’18, ’19).

Beilein helped mentor nine Wolverines selection in the NBA Draft: Darius Morris (2011, No. 41 by Los Angeles Lakers), Trey Burke (2013, No. 9 by Minnesota Timberwolves, draft-day trade to Utah Jazz), Tim Hardaway Jr. (2013, No. 24 by New York Knicks), Nik Stauskas (2014, No. 8 by Sacramento Kings), Mitch McGary (2014, No. 21 by Oklahoma City Thunder), Glenn Robinson III (2014, No. 40 by Minnesota Timberwolves), Caris LeVert (2016, No. 20 by Indiana Pacers, draft-day trade to Brooklyn Nets), D.J. Wilson (2017, No. 17 by Milwaukee Bucks) and Moritz Wagner (2018, No. 25 by Los Angeles Lakers).

 

Release from MGoBlue.com