The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1123063
JUNE/JULY 2019 THE WOLVERINE 23 poll of more than 100 program bosses during the summer of 2017. Not a bad run, for someone who started out as the junior varsity coach at Newfane (N.Y.) High, and worked his way through Erie Commu- nity College, Nazareth, Le Moyne, Canisius, Richmond and West Vir- ginia before landing in Ann Arbor. "He brought passion back," Mc- Cormick said of Beilein's impact at Michigan. "There's a beautiful arena, with a lot of hope for the future. "John Beilein proved that you can take this program a long way, with the resources and the ability to re- cruit." A CULTURE CHANGE Beilein inherited David Merritt on his first-ever roster at Michigan, the ill-fated 2007-08 squad. Merritt walked onto the Tommy Amaker teams that preceded the Beilein era, and Beilein not only kept him around but he made Merritt a captain in 2008-09. Beilein also put Merritt on scholar- ship, as a significant contributor to those early squads. The head coach didn't discover Michigan totally be- reft of talent, finding players such as DeShawn Sims and Manny Harris on the roster. But he filled in around them with players such as Merritt and C.J. Lee, a trans- fer out of Manhattan Col- lege. Soon enough, Beilein was bringing in largely over- looked performers such as Zack Novak and Stu Dou- glass, two players Novak once quipped that Beilein "found at the local YMCA." Merritt noted Beilein be- gan immediately changing the culture around Crisler. It was serious business, al- though one example from those early years has Merritt chuckling to himself to this very day. A brief exchange at Crisler with Michigan's new boss proved a personal grooming game-changer. "I'm in the bathroom, in the locker room," Merritt re- called. "I'm the only one in the locker room. I had just gotten a mohawk. "Coach Beilein comes in the bathroom and starts washing his hands. He doesn't even look at me, but I'm washing my hands, too. "Before he leaves — and this is just after he put me on scholarship — he goes, 'Dave … scholarships don't come with mohawks.' He just walks out of the bathroom. "The next day, I got a haircut." That one draws a hearty laugh, but those early days with the new coach were no laughing matter. Beilein cared even more about what was in the heads of his players, rather than what was growing out of them. He proved that, building a team based around core values, including unity, passion, appreciation, integ- rity and diligence. They weren't just words on the wall, either. They were stressed and discussed and put into every day practice. "When he got here, he immediately started talking about culture and im- mediately started talking about val- ues," Merritt recalled. "Not only who we were going to be on the court, but who we were going to be off the court and what it meant to be a part of Michigan basketball. "That was something I hadn't heard before, with any team that I had been on. It was more than going out and playing basketball. It was much different, where we actually sat down and talked as a team, came up with values and culture and who we wanted to be." Beilein stressed the name on the front of the jersey, rather than the back. He preached about Michigan as an opportunity for players to be part of something bigger than themselves. Michigan fans wanted something bigger than they'd seen for a while. It didn't happen that first season, and after loss No. 22 — a 51-34 thumping by Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tour- nament to mercifully end that year — some might have wondered if it would. "We all knew we wanted to make the NCAA Tournament," Merritt said. "We started that in the summer. That was the goal. Every day, he just has the uncanny ability to stay in the moment, to really take advantage of today's film session, today's practice session. "His famous saying: 'Let's get bet- ter today.' That's what we're here to do. We're here to get better today. That's important as his phi- losophy changes." Michigan got better — quickly and dramatically. That second season, the Wolverines went 21-14, made the NCAA Tourna- ment for the first time since the spring of 1998 and took down Clemson before bow- ing out. The breakthrough arrived, one that would lead to NBA talent down the road, like Tim Hardaway Jr., Mitch McGary, Nik Staus- kas, Glenn Robinson III, Trey Burke, etc. Beilein proved more than willing to change himself, when he felt the need. His move to bring in defensive specialists in Billy Donlon and Luke Yaklich as assis- tants proved huge in Michi- gan's evolution, which led to the second of the two Final Fours. That move took Merritt and other former players by surprise, not to men- tion catching opponents off guard. Beilein developed 18 All-Big Ten performers and nine NBA Draft picks — with potentially a few more being added to that second list in June — during his time in Ann Arbor. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN