Former Michigan coach John Beilein, Rip Hamilton headed to college hoops Hall of Fame
Former Michigan coach John Beilein is adding another prestigious honor to his resume.
Beilein will be part of a star-studded cast of coaches and among nine total members that will be inducted in the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame this year, the organization announced Wednesday.
Beilein will be joined by championship-winning coaches Jim Calhoun and Roy Williams, who will be formally honored in the Class of 2022 after initially being recognized as part of the founding class in 2006, as well as Lon Kruger and Jerry Krause.
The winningest coach in program history, Beilein built Michigan into one of the nation’s premier programs during his tenure. In his 12 seasons in Ann Arbor, he guided the Wolverines to 278 wins, two Big Ten regular-season championships, back-to-back conference tournament titles and two national title game appearances.
Beilein, whose coaching career has spanned more than four decades, won 829 college games during stops that included Erie Community College, Nazareth, Le Moyne, Canisius, Richmond and West Virginia. His teams made 13 trips to the NCAA Tournament, and he’s one of 14 coaches to have taken four different schools to the Big Dance.
Following his successful run at Michigan, Beilein made the jump to the NBA, where he coached the Cleveland Cavaliers and currently works with the Detroit Pistons in player development.
Beilein isn’t the only person with local ties who will be enshrined. Rip Hamilton, who played at Connecticut and won a championship with the Pistons in 2004, leads the list of former players. Hamilton was a two-time Big East player of the year, led the Huskies to their first national title in 1999 and left UConn as the program’s second-leading scorer with 2,036 points.
Other players who will be honored are Larry Miller (North Carolina), Frank Selvy (Furman) and the late Jimmy Walker (Providence).
The Class of 2022 will be enshrined on Nov. 20 in Kansas City as part of National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Weekend, which also features the annual Hall of Fame Classic tournament. Beilein will also enter the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in September.