John Beilein Talks Tournament Memories, What His Next Move May Be

With no NCAA Tournament this year, it's the perfect time to reflect on tournaments past. Former Michigan head coach John Beilein joined analyst Andy Katz on his March Madness 365 podcast to talk about some top March memories, as well as what might be next for the legendary former coach.

Beilein reflected back on Trey Burke's deep three-pointer to tie the game against Kansas in the 2013 Sweet 16 that ultimately spring-boarded U-M on a national title game run. He pointed out that it took quite a bit — including Kansas' Elijah Johnson missing the front end of a one-and-one — leading up to that memorable shot for U-M to pull out the victory.

"First of all, we were down by a lot," Beilein said. "We were down by eight with about a minute and a half to go. People think about that shot, but [Burke] made big plays up to that point, including forcing a 10-second call."

Beilein remembers the play vividly, including the specific play call he had drawn up.

"I called a play called ‘Rocket Pistol,’" he recalled, "which was, 'You come off this ball screen by Mitch McGary. If you’re not open, Nik Stauskas is going to be coming around you. If you can’t shoot it, then give it to Nik, let him shoot it in, because we need a three.'

"He ended up coming off that thing, and he really wasn’t open, so he just took a step backwards and got himself open, although we had a great screen by Tim and Mitch, they both set screens, and then he stepped back, and a long dude came out and contested him, and he still knocked it in.

"You know what? I always thought we were going to win it, even when we’re down late. Always thought we were going to still win it, and we made just enough plays to do it."

Burke's shot stacks up high on Beilein's list in terms of special coaching moments.

"It’s got to stand right at the top, certainly of that season, because we had remarkable wins where they were blowouts against great teams — VCU and Florida — that we got to enjoy the wins a little bit, there wasn’t as much drama," he said. "But, that game right there, it didn’t look good for a long time, but in overtime we really played well and got the W."

That 2013 run can be credited for a lot of the success going forward. Since the 2013 season, no team has won more NCAA Tournament games than the Wolverines. U-M's 18 wins over that span are tied with Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina for the most tournament wins.

"Somebody gave me the stat, from that point on, I think we might’ve led or one of the top two or three in the country in NCAA wins from that ‘13 season on," Beilein said. "We really were good, and we had great assistant coaches and guard play was outstanding through all of that run for us. A lot of really good players, a lot of them are playing in the NBA today."

Some of that future success — and five of those wins — came in the 2018 season, when the Wolverines advanced once again to the national title game. Jordan Poole's buzzer beating game-winner against Houston in the round of 32 sparked that run.

"They had a very good foul shooter at the line," Beilein said. "He had to miss two. Now, we were only down by two, but he had to miss one to give us a chance, he had to miss two to allow us to win it. We have a play called ‘Indiana’ that we work on consistently in practice, and it ends up only working if you really spread yourselves and you’re very unselfish. And, we ended up having a great throw-in there by Isaiah Livers, who’s a baseball player. You can’t run a play if you don’t have a guy that can really throw it in.

"Then, Muhammad-Ali [Abdur-Rahkman] took like two or three dribbles, and usually a guy shoots it, because there’s only like a second and a half on the clock. He found Jordan Poole on the right wing. Jordan made a shot that was incredible, but you know what, he made it like a day before in practice when we ran — I don’t know if we ran that play, but it was a last second situation play, he made the exact same shot almost, from that side of the floor.

"I really didn’t know what to do. My grandchildren were behind me, and they were all in tears because we were going to lose that game. And, I turned around and I saw happy faces. It made it a great moment."

After resigning from his post as the Cleveland Cavaliers head coach in February, Beilein is taking time to decide what will be his next chapter.

"I have a chance here with this terrible virus, that has got us all just in a stalemate," Beilein said. "I think it’s a great time for me to reflect and look at what’s next for me. I’m healthy, I feel good. Just sort of get back to getting to know the family better, that 45 years I missed a lot. At the same time, I know my gut will tell me what I want to do as I go farther. Is it back into coaching? Is it in an administration? Is it into the media, T.V? I’m going to make a good decision there, I know that. But, I’m not going to jump into anything until I can really look at the landscape, what it is now and in the years to become."

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