Former Michigan head coach Luke Yaklich is back in his home state. The LaSalle (Ill.) native spent last season at Texas after two years at U-M, but now he's about to be the head coach at Illinois-Chicago.

Yaklich coached at Illinois State, his Alma Mater, before joining Michigan.

In his first season at Michigan (2017-18), Yaklich helped transform the team's defensive plan and helped Michigan post a 33-8 record, the 33 wins a single-season program record. Michigan won four games in four days to win the Big Ten Tournament title and added five wins in the NCAA Tournament before falling to Villanova in the NCAA Championship game.

The Wolverines ranked eighth nationally in scoring defense (63.3 ppg allowed) in 2017-18. Michigan also led the Big Ten in scoring defense for the first time since 1964 and ranked third in Defensive Efficiency by the KenPom ratings (90.5).

Michigan finished 30-7 in 2018-19, earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 before falling to Texas Tech. The Wolverines ranked second nationally in scoring defense (57.7 ppg allowed) and second in KenPom's ratings (86.2) and led the Big Ten in scoring defense.

Head coach John Beilein told The Chicago Tribune he listened intently when ISU head coach Dan Muller called recommending him.

“It wasn’t like it was Bobby Knight or Mike Krzyzewski called me,” Beilein said. “But I listened and valued that because I was in that position. We got much more than I expected. He is a force. He’s tremendous.

“The work that he goes through to prepare us for a game ... it’s emails and text after text: ‘Here’s what we need to consider.’ He opens my mind to a whole bunch of things. His thoroughness is incredible.”

Yaklich was a candidate to remain at Michigan as both head coach and assistant, but he has been trending toward head coach for a while. He'll finally get his shot.

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