Beilein poised to become UM's all-time winningest coach
Ann Arbor — Michigan’s past two games at Crisler Center are ones coach John Beilein won’t soon forget.
With a win over Furman on Dec. 22, Beilein recorded his 750th career win at the college level.
Then Wednesday night in the Big Ten home opener, the Wolverines gave Beilein his 200th career victory at Michigan in dramatic fashion, rallying from a 14-point, second-half deficit to edge Penn State, 72-69.
Beilein, 63, became the second coach in program history to reach the mark, joining Johnny Orr, who is the all-time leader with 209 wins.
"Yeah, I almost choked him with his tie. I grabbed his tie really tight,” senior guard Derrick Walton Jr. said about the celebration in the locker room.
“We just thanked him and he thanked us for winning a lot of games together and we're just proud for him, happy for him. He's a great coach, a future Hall of Famer in my opinion and he deserves every bit of it. He worked really hard to get where he is."
Throughout Beilein’s 42-year coaching career, he worked up the ranks starting at Newfane High in New York. From there, he climbed the collegiate ladder from Erie Community College to Division III Nazareth to Division II Le Moyne to Division I programs Canisius, Richmond and West Virginia before arriving at Michigan in 2007.
Beilein, in his 10th season with Michigan, has guided the Wolverines to six NCAA Tournament appearances, won two Big Ten regular-season titles (2012, 2014), recorded six 20-plus win seasons and had six players selected in the NBA draft — Darius Morris (2011), Trey Burke (2013), Tim Hardaway Jr. (2013), Nik Stauskas (2014), Mitch McGary (2014) and Glen Robinson III (2014).
"Coach B gave me an opportunity to come here which I'll forever be grateful for,” senior forward Zak Irvin said. “He's developed my game more than I thought I could, from freshman year to senior year for a guy who spot up and shot threes freshman year and didn't get any assists to now being able to see the court and make plays off the dribble.
“Coach B has definitely opened my game up to ways I didn't even imagine.”
Determined Michigan rallies to beat Penn State
With 16 games left in the regular season, Beilein has a chance to surpass Orr and set a new all-time mark. He’s also closing in on another milestone with 493 wins at the Division I level.
"Kathleen and I have been here for 10 years and it's a great 10 years. It just seems like it's still in the process,” Beilein said. “It feels like we're still just like new and we've been building ever since we've been here. We've had these injuries, we've had the NBA. We're just always building and building like it was the first couple of years.
“It's flown by because when you're doing that, you never get content. You're driving to make this thing work even though there's been some obstacles, so the time has flown by because you're driven so much."
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