Michigan Basketball: What people are saying about John Beilein
Warde Manuel
One of the insiders into the whole situation is going to be Beilein’s boss, Athletic Director Warde Manuel who provided the following statement.
"“I was saddened when John told me this morning of his decision to leave Michigan for a head coaching position in the NBA. However, I am incredibly thankful for his 12 years of service to this university. Above and beyond being our all-time winningest coach, John is a tremendous role model for the game of college basketball. He is an outstanding educator, community member and a man of great integrity, and he and Kathleen will be missed. My priority now is to commence a full national search for our next basketball coach.”"
When talking with Detroit Free Press’s Orion Sang, Manuel delved a little deeper into the hiring process
"“I’m considering many different candidates. I’m taking a lot in right now and seeing who is interested. I have my sense of who I’d like to be interested but I’m also given a sense of who’s interested. People have to absorb the information that there’s a change and think about it, talk to their close advisors, talk to their friends and spouses to figure out if this is something they want to do. And so I’ve been around long enough to know that in the first 12 hours, you don’t jump at every candidate that throws their hand up. You wait and allow people to think about it and see where the fit is.”"
On a positive note, Warde explained there already is a lot of interest for the position.
"“A lot of movement has already occurred. Things have settled down, for the most part. We’ll see where it goes. Have already received significant number of calls and a lot of interest in the potential for this position."
Finally, Manuel described the ideal coach, the Michigan man he’s expecting.
"“I want somebody who wants to coach and teach young men. To drive success on the court and off the court. Academically, we’ve been as solid as well as we’ve played. We’ve had young men with character who have done the right thing. So I want that. “If I can get a proven coach, someone with a track record as a head coach, that’s what I’d like to see. And then I want somebody who can coach, who can develop talent. John did it and this league does it year in, year out without teams full of 5-stars. We develop talent in the league, we’re a tough league that plays hard, so I’m looking for somebody that can develop talent and who can also coach. “And lastly, John has established that you can win with integrity and do things the right way. And given some of the issues that have popped up in this sport, I want to assure that whoever leads our program understands that, has that in their background, where they’re beyond reproach. And so I’ll search for somebody as well and make sure we dot our I’s and cross our T’s around that.”"