DES MOINES, Iowa — John Beilein was one of the first guys Darris Nichols, a former West Virginia guard under Beilein, turned to when he decided to go into coaching.
Nichols has since been working his way up, now an assistant to Mike White at Florida. He marvels at how Beilein has adapted.
"He's changed a lot of stuff," Nichols, an assistant at Wofford a few years back when Michigan played them in the first round, said with a laugh. "I think a lot of that had to do with the shot clock. You have to play faster and you can't run as long of sets as he did when I played."
He paused.
"And he's got better players now," he said with a grin.
To the point that they don't have to throw as many zones out there as they did at West Virginia, he added. The 1-3-1 used to be a staple, but Beilein has evolved as his athletes have.
Nichols has enjoyed watching U-M, as has Gators coach Mike White
"Their level of communication on the court, especially defensively [stands out]," White said. "Their attention to detail. Their discipline. Their skill level. The fact that they all pass, dribble and shoot it. I've seen these guys play so much on TV, and we all like watching Michigan play and they're a little closer to us than most programs because of Darris Nichols and his background of having played for Coach Beilein.
"We like to think we've learned a lot watching these guys, but in person those would be the first things that stuck out."
Florida guard Andrew Nembhard, a freshman and a Canadian, spoke of his AAU days with Ignas Brazdeikis. He and the Michigan frosh played together when they were 10 years old.
“He wasn't as loud,” Nembhard said with a grin."He was a little quiet guy, actually. Always confident though ... but now he shows it a little more.”
“Iggy was a great player since we played on the fifth-grade team. He was always a real good shooter, real good player, real good scorer. I'm really proud of him."
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