Michigan Wolverines head coach John Beilein interviewed for the Detroit Pistons vacancy on Thursday, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Pistons parted ways with former head coach Stan Van Gundy in May, and general manager Jeff Bower on Friday.
John Beilein pulls name from Pistons’ coaching search one week after interviewing
Is it time for Beilein to move on from the Wolverines?
Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
Detroit’s reported to have interviewed former Raptors coach Dwane Casey too, and has a meeting set with Heat assistant coach Juwan Howard next week, according to ESPN.
Beilein has more than 30 years of coaching experience, and has been with Michigan since 2007. In 11 years coaching for a power-conference school, he’s come away with two Big Ten tournament wins, two conference regular season titles, and taken the Wolverines to the Final Four twice.
Eight Beilein pupils played in the NBA last season, including Tim Hardaway Jr., Trey Burke, Glenn Robinson, Caris LeVert, Nik Stauskas, Ekpe Udoh, Derrick Walton Jr., and D.J. Wilson.
Why Beilein would want to leave
At 65 years old, Beilein’s towards the end of his coaching career, and if he wants to try his hand at the pros, now is the time. He’s regarded as one of the best coaches in college basketball, able to stack good but not top-tier talent to reach the Final Four. But he isn’t among the Coach K and John Calipari elites who are annually offered the best of the best coaching options.
The Pistons current situation isn’t ideal, but with Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond, two all-star talents, there’s hope. Beilein could make the playoffs in year one, and under a new administration, maybe he could swing things around.
Apparently, that wasn’t enough to lure Beilein to the pros. Adrian Wojnarowski reported the coach had pulled his name from consideration early in the week. A Tweet from Beilein himself appears to have closed the door on any NBA job -- at least for 2018.
Why the Pistons would want Beilein
Beilein hasn’t recruited five-star, one-and-done studs in the past. Rather, he’s gained a reputation developing talent. That’s something Detroit needs with little cap space and untapped talent on deck.
The Pistons have their 2015 No. 8 pick Stanley Johnson under contract for another year, as well as 2016 No. 18 pick Henry Ellenson and 2017 No. 12 pick Luke Kennard. Detroit needs to hit big on one of those three, especially because they lost their 2018 first-round pick in the trade for Griffin and their most promising young piece, Tobias Harris.
With Casey in the running for this position, Beilein has competition. But it’s clear he has at least some interest in taking the job if it’s offered.
That’d be a real shock to Michigan fans, and shakeup both the college and pro levels of the game.
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