Follow the Leader: Michigan Basketball Provides Blueprint for Michigan Football

When the buzzer sounded in Madison Square Garden on Thursday night, Michigan fans got something they have needed for a while: the sweet taste of victory. Never mind that the Wolverines lost to Duke in the 2K Sports Coaches vs. Cancer Classic championship game the next night.

For that one night, Michigan fans could be proud of their team and sing "The Victors" with pride rather than out of obligation or habit.

While an upset of a top-five team on the hardwood won’t take away the sting of the worst football season in Michigan history, Michigan fans finally have quality basketball again during the football offseason.

Those Michigan fans that don’t care for basketball should take a close look at the basketball program, as it could provide a blueprint for the football side.  

Like Rich Rodriguez this season, Michigan basketball coach John Beilein was much-maligned last year for recording one of the worst records in program history. The team barely hit double-digit wins (10-22) and failed to make the postseason.

Beilein wasn’t following a legend or a regime that had been in place for 40 years, but hoops fans were eager to return to the heyday of the ‘60s through mid-‘90s when Michigan basketball won 65 percent of its games, seven Big Ten titles, and a National Championship.

For most of his first season, the team was hard to watch.  Mistakes, turnovers, and poor shots were frustrated fans who found it hard to accept losing to teams like Harvard, Central Michigan, and Western Kentucky out of conference and perennial cellar-dwellers Northwestern and Penn State in the Big Ten.

Yet, Beilein defended his reputation as a program builder who will succeed by doing things his way despite a lack of early success.

Sound familiar?

Beilein is known for his 1-3-1 defense and “Princeton-style” offense. Some call it “gimmicky,” but Beilein has proven it works with the right players in place. Both struggled to take hold in year one for a team that was used to playing “me-first” basketball under Tommy Amaker.

Many of the upperclassmen clashed with the new regime leading to some attrition by season’s end. Beilein, like Rich Rodriguez, let the weeds go in order for the grass to flourish.

This season, Beilein brought in a pair of guys (Stu Douglass and Zach Novak) that aren’t traditional Michigan players but come from the basketball-rich state of Indiana and fit the mold of Beilein players: sound fundamentals, hard-nosed defense, and sharp shooting.

Combine those two with those of Beilein’s first recruiting class, led by Manny Harris, and you have a solid core with which to build on.

Michigan basketball won’t be expected to beat the UCLAs and the Dukes quite yet, but as it showed on Thursday night, it has the potential to do so on any given night. There’s still a lot of work to do, but Beilein has his team headed in the right direction much like Rodriguez will next season.

Most importantly, he needs to be given time to do so.

Here’s a comparative breakdown of the two Michigan leaders’ first seasons in Ann Arbor.

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