John Beilein
John Beilein (born February 5, 1953)
Current position: Senior player development advisor
Current team: Detroit Pistons (NBA)
Teams coached: Nazareth Golden Flyers, Le Moyne Dolphins, Canisius Golden Griffins, Richmond Spiders, West Virginia Mountaineers, Michigan Wolverines, Cleveland Cavaliers
Nazareth record: 20–6 (.769)
Le Moyne record^: 163–94 (.634)
Canisius record: 89-62 (.589)
Richmond record: 100-53 (.654)
West Virginia record: 104-60 (.634)
Michigan record: 278-150 (.650)
Overall record^: 754-425 (.640)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0 (Runner-up in 2013, 2018)
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 13 (1996, 1998, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 7 (2005, 2006, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019)
- NCAA Tournament Final Four: 2 (2013, 2018)
- NIT Championships: 1 (2007)
- NIT Appearances: 6 (1994, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007)
- Big Ten Regular Season Champion: 2 (2012, 2014)
- CAA Regular Season Champion: 1 (2001)
- MAAC Regular Season Champion: 1 (1994)
- Mideast (Div II) Regular Season Champion: 2 (1984, 1988)
- Big Ten Tournament Champion: 2 (2017, 2018)
- CAA Tournament Champion: 1 (1998)
- MAAC Tournament Champion: 1 (1996)
- Mideast (Div II) Tournament Champion: 1 (1988)
- NCAA Division II Tournament Appearances: 1 (1988)
Awards:
- Big Ten Coach of the Year: 1 (2014)
- MAAC Coach of the Year: 1 (1994)
- National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 2022)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 2021-present | Detroit Pistons (advisor) |
| 2019-2020 | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| 2007-2019 | Michigan |
| 2002-2007 | West Virginia |
| 1997-2002 | Richmond |
| 1992-1997 | Canisius |
| 1983-1992 | Le Moyne |
| 1982-1983 | Nazareth (NY) |
| 1978-1982 | Erie CC |
John Beilein Facts
- John Patrick Beilein
- Born February 5, 1965
- Hometown: Burt, New York
- Alma Mater: Wheeling Jesuit University (BA, 1975) / Niagara University (MS, 1981)
- Played for four seasons at (then) Wheeling College in West Virginia, serving as team captain during his senior year
- First coaching job was as head coach at Newfane High School (NY) from 1975-78, and first collegiate job was in the same role at Erie CC (NY)
- Went 75-43 in four seasons at Erie (1978-82)
- Spent one year at Division III Nazareth (NY) before being hired at then Division II Le Moyne (NY) in 1983
- Was 163-94 overall at Le Moyne, winning two Mideast Conference titles and leading the Dolphins to the Div II Tournament in 1988
- Moved up to the Division I level in 1992 as head coach at Canisius, where he went 89-62 over five seasons and went to one NCAA Tournament and two NITs
- Beilein’s uncle was the late Joseph Niland, a three-time Canisius captain and the Griffins’ head coach from 1948-53
- Spent five years as the head coach at Richmond, going 100-53 during that time
- Went to the NCAA Tournament in 1998 and the NIT in both 2001 and 2002
- Next stop was a five-season stint as head coach at West Virginia
- Won the 2007 NIT with after back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances (one Sweet Sixteen and one Elite Eight)
- Became the head coach at Michigan in 2007, a position he has held ever since
- Has led the Wolverines to nine NCAA Tournaments, reaching at least the Sweet Sixteen five times
- His 2012-13 team finished as NCAA Runner-Up, losing to a Louisville team that eventually vacated their title and season
- Returned to the Final Four and National Championship game in 2018, this time losing to 1-seed Villanova
- Accepted an offer in May 2019 to become the head coach of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, signing a five-year deal
- Over the 2020 NBA All-Star break, Beilein parted ways with the Cavs with a 14-40 record in half of a season
- In May 2021, he was hired to be the Senior Player Development Advisor for the NBA’s Detroit Pistons
- Has held nine different head coaching jobs across the HS, JUCO, D-III, D-II, D-I and NBA levels, but has never been an assistant
- Along with his wife, Kathleen, has four children and three grandchildren
- Their son, Patrick, is the former head coach at Le Moyne and West Virginia Wesleyan
John Beilein Coaching Tree
- Bacari Alexander (Detroit Mercy)
- Patrick Beilein (Le Moyne, West Virginia Wesleyan)
- Matt Brown (UMKC)
- Billy Donlon (Kansas City)
- Jerry Dunn (Tuskegee)
- Scott Hicks (Loyola MD, Albany, Le Moyne)
- Mike Jones (UNC Greensboro, Radford)
- LaVall Jordan (Butler, Milwaukee)
- Bill Lilly (West Virginia Wesleyan)
- Mike MacDonald (Daemen, Medaille, Canisius)
- Mike Maker (Marist, Williams)
- Josh Merkel (Randolph-Macon, Salisbury)
- Jeff Neubauer (Fordham, Eastern Kentucky)
- Darris Nichols (Radford)
- Phil Seymore (SUNY Fredonia, Providence women’s)
- Bryan Smothers (Wayne State)
- Zach Spiker (Drexel, Army)
- Rob Summers (Urbana)
- Reggie Witherspoon (Canisius, Buffalo)
- Luke Yaklich (UIC)
^ overall record includes head coaching positions at the NCAA Division I, Division II and Division III levels only; during Beilein’s tenure at Le Moyne, the program was Division II