University of Michigan Athletics

Considered to be one of the best tactical basketball minds in the country, U-M's David and Meredith Kaplan Men's Basketball Head Coach John Beilein has continued to be an innovator in college basketball during his four decades patrolling the sidelines. 

Beilein has compiled a career record of 829-468 (.639) during his 41 years as a collegiate head coach. He has recorded 20-plus win seasons on 23 occasions and has finished with a winning record in 35 seasons, placing him in the top 10 for career victories among active Division I head coaches. 

Beilein has 20 career postseason appearances -- 13 in the NCAA Division I Tournament, six in the NIT and one in the NCAA Division II Tournament. With the nine trips to the Big Dance with U-M, Beilein is one of 14 coaches to have taken four different schools to the NCAA Tournament -- Canisius (1996), Richmond (1998), West Virginia (2005, '06) and Michigan (2009, '11, '12, '13, '14, '16, '17, '18, ‘19). 

In 12 seasons in Ann Arbor, Beilein has built the Wolverines into one of the nation's elite programs, taking U-M to a pair of national championship game appearances (2013, '18) while also becoming the winningest coach in school history. 

Under Beilein, the Maize and Blue have made nine NCAA Tournament appearances while also winning two Big Ten regular season and two Big Ten Tournament titles. Michigan earned a share of the 2012 Big Ten regular-season title with a 13-5 record -- the first for the program since 1986. The Wolverines just missed getting a share of the 2013 conference title after a last second loss in the regular season finale. However, U-M won the program's first outright Big Ten crown in 28 years in 2014 with a 15-3 record, winning the league by three games.

In 2017, seeded eighth at the Big Ten Tournament, U-M found itself in the headlines before the tournament began after its plane ran off the runway and crashed, forcing the Wolverines to make the trip to Washington, D.C. on the morning of their conference tournament opener. Showing no ill effects from the travel, U-M easily dispatched No. 9 seed Illinois and used that momentum to win four games in four days, taking down No. 1 seed Purdue, No. 4 seed Minnesota and No. 2 seed Wisconsin along the way in becoming the lowest seed ever to win the Big Ten Tournament.

The following season Beilein's Wolverines set a new school record with 33 wins, which included repeating as Big Ten Tournament champions, once again winning four games in four days to take the title at Madison Square Garden. After opening the tournament with an overtime win over No. 12 seed Iowa, the Wolverines downed No. 4 Nebraska, No. 1 Michigan State and No. 2 Purdue to claim the conference crown. 

Michigan rode the momentum from that title to reach its second Final Four in Beilein's tenure. Following a buzzer-beating win over Houston in the Second Round, U-M dispatched Texas A&M and Florida State to return to the Final Four for the first time since 2013. Michigan downed Loyola-Chicago in the national semifinals before falling to Villanova in the national championship game. 

Beilein guided U-M to its third consecutive Sweet 16 in 2019, and the fifth in his tenure in Ann Arbor, putting the Maize and Blue alongside Gonzaga and Kentucky as the only four schools to reach in the Sweet 16 in each of the last three seasons. 

When Beilein guided the Wolverines to the Final Four during the 2012-13 season, the first of his career, it marked the first time U-M has reached college basketball's pinnacle in 20 years. Tying the then-school record with 31 wins, the 2013 Wolverines finished as national runners-up, falling to Louisville in the championship game. On their way to the Final Four, U-M downed Kansas in the Sweet 16 in an overtime thriller before beating Florida in the regional final and Syracuse in the national semifinals. 

The hallmark of Beilein's teams at Michigan have been sharing the basketball and limiting turnovers, ranking in the top 10 nationally in fewest turnovers nine times at U-M, including a nation's best in 2012-13 (9.4) and 2016-17 (9.2). In addition, U-M has been among the nation's best for fewest fouls, leading the nation in 2013-14 (14.2) and finishing in the top-10 eight times in the last 12 seasons.

Beilein, who was the 2013 Big Ten Coach of the Year, has guided 18 Wolverines to All-Big Ten honors -- Manny Harris (2008, '09, '10), DeShawn Sims (2008, '09, '10), Darius Morris (2011), Tim Hardaway Jr. (2011, '12, '13), Zack Novak (2012), Trey Burke (2012, '13), Glenn Robinson III (2013, '14), Nik Stauskas (2014), Caris LeVert (2014), Derrick Walton Jr. (2016, '17), Zak Irvin (2016, '17), Moritz Wagner (2017, '18), Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (2018), Ignas Brazdeikis (2019), Charles Matthews (2019), Jordan Poole (2019), Zavier Simpson (2019) and Jon Teske (2019). 

Adding to his all-conference list of Wolverines, Beilein coached Burke to 2012 Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors and 2013 Big Ten Player of the Year accolades the following season. Stauskas gave U-M back-to-back Player of the Year recipients as he garnered the conference's top honor in 2014. Duncan Robinson was recognized as U-M's first Big Ten's Sixth Man of the Year in 2018, while Brazdeikis became Michigan’s second Big Ten Freshman of the Year under Beilein in 2019. 

Nationally, Burke went on to become just the second Wolverine in program history to be awarded consensus National Player of the Year and All-America honors in 2013, joining U-M legend Cazzie Russell. Adding to his national recognition, Burke claimed the John R. Wooden Award, the Oscar Robertson Award, the Naismith Trophy and the Bob Cousy Award for the nation's top point guard. Once again, Stauskas followed Burke's lead the following season, earning All-America honors.

Overall Beilein has helped mentor nine Wolverines to the NBA Draft: Morris (2011, No. 41 by Los Angeles Lakers), Burke (2013, No. 9 by Minnesota Timberwolves then draft day trade to Utah Jazz), Hardaway (2013, No. 24 by New York Knicks), Stauskas (2014, No. 8 by Sacramento Kings), Mitch McGary (2014, No. 21 by Oklahoma City Thunder), Robinson III (2014, No. 40 by Minnesota Timberwolves), Caris LeVert (2016, No. 20 by Indiana Pacers then draft day trade to Brooklyn Nets), D.J. Wilson (2017, No. 17 by Milwaukee Bucks) and Moritz Wagner (2018, No. 25 by Los Angeles Lakers).

Prior to coming to Ann Arbor, Beilein brought great success to the West Virginia men's basketball program for five seasons. Under his direction, the Mountaineers compiled a record of 104-60 and earned four consecutive postseason berths, including two straight Sweet 16 appearances in 2005 and 2006. During the Mountaineers' 2005 NCAA Tournament run, West Virginia advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in 42 years and for the first time in Beilein's coaching career. 

After just missing out on an NCAA Tournament bid in 2007, Beilein's Mountaineers were given the No. 1 seed in the NIT. Following three wins, West Virginia advanced to its first NIT semifinal appearance in 26 years (1981). In New York, The Mountaineers used a buzzer-beater against Mississippi State to advance to the championship game before downing Clemson to win the second NIT crown in program history. 

During his time in Morgantown, Beilein coached three players who reached 1,000 career points including his son, Patrick, who finished with 1,001. Beilein mentored Kevin Pittsnogle, who finished with 1,708 career points, to the 2006 John Wooden All-American team, becoming WVU's first men's basketball All-American since 1972. In addition, Johannes Herber was honored as the ESPN/CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year for men's basketball and a Big East Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete in 2006, while Mike Gansey was one of the 10 finalists for the Oscar Robertson Award.

Beilein spent five seasons at Richmond (1997-2002) and closed with a 100-53 (.654) record, giving him the second-highest winning percentage in the school's basketball history. In fact, he reached the 100-win mark faster than any coach in Richmond history. After three straight third place Colonial Athletic Association finishes, Beilein guided the Spiders to the league title in what would be Richmond's final season in the CAA (2000-01). Not being allowed to participate in the conference tournament due to an impending move to Atlantic 10, Richmond earned a bid to the NIT and advanced to the second round.

In its first season in the Atlantic 10 (2001-02), Richmond finished with a 22-14 record, was the league runner-up and reached the finals of the conference championship. The Spiders went on to win three games in the NIT before falling to Syracuse in the quarterfinals.

Prior to arriving at Richmond, Beilein spent five years at Canisius (1992-97), guiding the Golden Griffins to the 1994 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) title and three consecutive postseason appearances, including the 1995 NIT semifinal and the 1996 NCAA Tournament. His exploits in rebuilding the Canisius program earned him 1994 MAAC Coach of the Year honors as well as New York State Division I Coach of the Year accolades.

Before assuming the coaching responsibilities at Canisius, Beilein turned a once-dismal Le Moyne squad into a Division II contender during his nine seasons (1983-92). In 1987-88, Le Moyne won a school-record 24 games, was crowned Mideast Conference champions and earned a berth in the Division II Tournament. Beilein's tenure at Le Moyne was preceded by a one-year stint at Nazareth College in Rochester, New York, from 1982-83, leading the program to a 20-6 record.

Beilein started his coaching career at Newfane High School in Newfane, New York. He coached the junior varsity for two seasons sporting a 27-9 record before moving to the varsity coaching position in 1977 guiding the program to a 13-6 record -- the first winning season in eight years. Following that season, Beilein accepted his first collegiate head coaching position at Erie Community College in Buffalo, New York. In four seasons on the sidelines, he posted a 75-43 record. 

Collegiately, Beilein played four seasons (1971-75) at Wheeling College (now Wheeling Jesuit University) serving as team captain during his junior season. He received a bachelor's degree in history from Wheeling before earning a master's degree in education from Niagara in 1981.

Beilein represented USA Basketball as a court coach at the 2009 team trials for the Under-19 World Championship and as an assistant coach under Bob McKillop (Davidson) for the 2013 World University Games in Kazan, Russia.

In May of 2005, Beilein returned to his alma mater as Wheeling Jesuit's commencement speaker as he was presented with an honorary degree at the school's 47th commencement ceremonies. In 2015, he was inducted into the university's Hall of Fame.

A native of Burt, New York, Beilein and his wife of 39 years, Kathleen, have four children together -- daughter, Seana (Hendricks) and three sons, Patrick, Mark and Andrew. The Beilein's have four grandchildren -- Finley, Johnny and Charlie with daughter Seana and a fourth, Tommy, with son Patrick. 

The John Beilein File

Born: Feb. 5, 1953
Hometown: Burt, N.Y.
High School: DeSales Catholic (Lockport, N.Y.)
College: Wheeling Jesuit, 1975 (B.A. History), Niagara, 1981 (M.S. Education)
Wife: Kathleen (40 years)
Children: Seana (Hendricks), Patrick, Mark, Andrew
Grandchildren: Finley Rose, Johnny, Charlie and Tommy
Pronunciation: "Bee-Line"

Career Résumé

Coaching Career Breakdown

Career Record

Career Postseason