CBSSports.com recently conducted a “Candid Coaches” survey, in which it asked college basketball head and assistant coaches around the country who the cleanest coaches are in the profession on the recruiting trail.
In exchange for anonymity, the following question was answered with complete honesty — “Who is the high-major coach you genuinely believe does everything by the book and operates completely within the NCAA's rulebook?”
Michigan’s John Beilein was the overwhelming favorite, with 26.6 percent of the votes. Notre Dame’s Mike Brey was a distant second, with just 10.5 percent of the votes.
Here’s a few of the anonymous quotes on Beilein:
"John Beilein is a by-the-book, letter-of-the-law guy. LETTER-OF-THE-LAW. ... You get two hours to work out guys for the week. If he works out a kid and, say, they go one hour and one minute, he's going to start the next time with 59 minutes on the clock and go 59 minutes. That's the truth."
"Personally, we've gone up against him [in recruiting] ... and there's never been any issues. You go head-to-head with some of these guys, and you know what's going on. ... But nothing has popped up that's even been in the gray area [with Michigan]."
"If you look over the course of his programs, they have a very unique way in how they recruit players. It's a very old-school approach. He has to see them. They only offer kids if they come to campus twice. Stuff like that. His background is such, and this is way vague, but guys that typically have cheated or do things the wrong way, they live their lives at a certain level of athletics for such a long period. But John Beilein worked his way up. He's never been an assistant -- only been a head coach his entire life. He's like, 'This is the only way do it, and I'm going to continue to do it.' [Guys like him] get to a point in their careers where they've been able to operate that way for so long, why risk their job and reputation?"
Here’s what the article’s author, Gary Parrish, had to say about Beilein:
“I'm not surprised Beilein was the most common answer, if only because I've never heard another coach even whisper about him. In a business where back-stabbing is normal, and accusing somebody of cheating every time you miss on a recruit is a go-to move, Beilein's name has never been connected to anything shady, far as I can remember. Coaches just don't talk about him that way.
“Simply put, he's universally respected.
“Beilein has led the NCAA's ethics coalition, and his colleagues seem to believe there's nothing about that deserving of a roll of the eyes. They think he plays things straight by the book. And, I'm compelled to tell you, this is why I may have personally been as wrong about Beilein-to-Michigan back in 2007 as I've been about any hire made at the power-conference level in the past decade.
“I did not love the hire at the time.
“And the reason was simple: I didn't think a by-the-book coach was a good fit at Michigan -- a place that historically needs to recruit Detroit to be successful, a place that once enrolled and celebrated the Fab Five. I knew Beilein was great. I just didn't think he was a great fit at Michigan. And that's still debatable, I guess. But it doesn't matter. Because he's been terrific while leading the Wolverines to seven of the past nine NCAA Tournaments -- a run that includes three Sweet 16s, two Elite Eights and an appearance in the 2013 national title game.
“And Beilein hasn't damaged his reputation at all.
“Which isn't necessarily the norm. Sometimes coaches get new jobs and compromise their moral compasses; pressures make them do things they previously never imagined doing. But that doesn't seem to be the case with Beilein. Or, at least, his colleagues don't believe it to be the case. And that's just about the greatest compliment he could receive -- that he's flourished without changing and won big without cheating.
“Coaches love to point fingers -- even at the giants of the sport. But with Beilein, really, they just tip their hats.”
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