Former Michigan coach John Beilein makes list of nominees for Naismith Hall of Fame

Former Michigan head coach John Beilein was one of the best coaches in the country at U-M, and it earned him a spot in the College Basketball Hall of Fame recently. Never an assistant, always a head coach, Beilein did it his way in racking up a Michigan record 278 wins in his 12 years at the helm.

RELATED: College Basketball Hall of Fame inductee John Beilein’s coaching career didn’t go as planned — it was even better

He was voted “cleanest coach in the country” by a landslide in a vote of his peers during his tenure and never sacrificed his principles for wins.

For that and several other reasons, Beilein was nominated for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame — the big one — as announced Wednesday, Dec. 21.

Semifinalists will be announced Friday, February 17, at the NBA All-Star Game, and the Class of 2023 will be announced Saturday, April 1, during NCAA Final Four Weekend.

Beilein coached at Newfane (N.Y.) High, and his college journey began at Erie Community College in 1978. He went to Nazareth in 1982, Le Moyne in 1983, Canisius in 1992, Richmond in 1997, West Virginia in 2002 and Michigan in 2007. He took four different programs to the NCAA Tournament — Canisius (1996), Richmond (1998), West Virginia (2005, 2006) and Michigan (nine times).

Beilein left Michigan in 2019 for a shot to coach in the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was a short-lived venture, but he is one of very few who can say they coached at every level.

“There was a plan, but that wasn’t the plan, that you would have the opportunity to coach at every level,” Beilein said in November. “It was, get here to Newfane High School and do a great job, and maybe you could get to a college job one day. Then all of a sudden it was like, if we can do a good job, maybe somebody will be interested in me at Nazareth College. It was amazing at how it would go along the way. 

“And then you have to have a family that’s willing to move. [Wife] Kathleen and I moved seven times, bought and sold nine houses. All four children graduated from different high schools in their senior year in four different states. It’s just amazing that we could hold it together that long. Every time I thought, ‘I think it’s going the other way … we may get fired here. This may be our last year. And then something happened that turned it around, and we ended up having some success.”

Not just some success, but great success. Beilein is the Michigan all-time wins leader, but there’s no one defining moment of his career, he noted.

“There could have been moments where I could’ve gone the other way. I remember saying to Kathleen, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to make it,'” Beilein said. “We were picked 11th out of 11 teams in the Big Ten in my fourth year. But there’s no defining moment — that’s for sure.”

But making the Hall of Fame certainly would be for his unbelievable career. Beilein has now made it through step one, with two to go.

Former NBA stars Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade, Chauncey Billups, Paul Gasol, Tony Parker were on the nominees list. Former San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich, and six-time WNVA all-star Becky Hammon also made the list:

NORTH AMERICAN

NOMINATIONS

• Ken Anderson (COA)
• John Beilein (COA)*
• Gene Bess (COA)
• Chauncey Billups (PLA)
• Tom Chambers (PLA)
• John Clougherty (REF)
• Michael Cooper (PLA)
• Joey Crawford (REF)
• Jack Curran (COA)
• Mark Eaton (PLA)
• Cliff Ellis (COA)
• Michael Finley (PLA)
• Pau Gasol (PLA)*
• Leonard Hamilton (COA)
• Lou Henson (COA)
• Ed Hightower (REF)
• David Hixon (COA)
• Mark Jackson (PLA)
• Marques Johnson (PLA)
• Gene Keady (COA)
• Jim Larranaga (COA)*
• Maurice Lucas (PLA)
• Shawn Marion (PLA)
• Rollie Massimino (COA)
• Dick Motta (COA)
• Dirk Nowitzki (PLA)*
• Jake O’Donnell (REF)
• Tony Parker (PLA)*
• Jim Phelan (COA)
• Gregg Popovich (COA)*
• Bo Ryan (COA)
• Stan Spirou (COA)*
• Reggie Theus (PLA)
• Dwyane Wade (PLA)*
• Buck Williams (PLA)
• John Williamson (PLA)*
• Paul Westhead (COA)