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So I covered John Beilein for four seasons at Michigan -- and popped in a few times here and there after. I'm really intrigued by how he'll do in Cleveland. In the four years I covered him, he reinvented what he did and has always been great at adapting....
...and I think he'll be able to do that in Cleveland. He also has a buy-in guy already on the roster that can speak to his abilities in Nik Stauskas. He's coached enough NBA talent at this point that he gets that part of it, too.
Plus, at age 66, it's kind of now or never...
Plus, at age 66, it's kind of now or never...
...when it comes to chasing something if you want it in life. And if the NBA is something he really wanted (based off what @BFQuinn has reported, who is exceedingly plugged in there, it seems plausible) then this was the time for him to do it. ...
On a personal note, in covering him we had our share of dustups as he was building the program and I covered it. But he was always respectful and genuinely good to deal with....And with that, one story I've held on to for a little while.
I bring it up because yesterday was Mother's Day and it always makes me think of @JohnBeilein for this reason (one he probably won't like me sharing). When my mom was sick, Beilein always -- and I mean ALWAYS -- asked how she was doing. For over two years. He asked her name...
@JohnBeilein ...because he told me he wanted to include her in his prayers. After he won a game in the preseason NIT, I was walking out of the interview room next to him and his first question to me was whether or not I saw my family in New York and spent time with her. ...
...I was off the beat by the time the leukemia really took hold. I would still run into him or his wife, Kathleen, in Ann Arbor and every time, they asked how she was doing. When she died a little over five years ago, within 48 hours, I heard from all of his assistant coaches...
...My phone rings one day a few days after she died and the funeral. It's John Beilein. I don't cover him anymore. Don't see him often. He reached out and we talked for 15-30 minutes -- he was calling to check in and see how I was doing, etc. He was the only coach I covered...
...that took the time to do that. It wasn't in public. No one knew about it and there was no gain in it for him. That's just who he is and every time I've seen him or his wife since, I think about that because it was just the human thing to do and it meant, on that level, a ton.
So anyway, I've written a lot of stories about John Beilein. But never that one. On the day he's leaving Michigan -- and the day after Mother's Day -- it seemed somewhat fitting to share it.
