According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Michigan’s head basketball coach John Beilein have agreed on a five-year deal for him to assume the franchise’s head coach vacancy.
Beilein has been the Wolverines’ head coach since 2007. In his time he compiled a 278-150 record, including nine trips to the NCAA tournament and two appearances in the title game.
Beilein had the following to say in a team release:
“I want to thank the University of Michigan for what has been a truly special home and remarkable place for my family and I for the last 12 years. We have achieved great success together and we could not have done it without the incredible support of our administration, coaches, players, staff, students, fans and the entire university community. We shared some of the best moments of my life together and I will always be grateful for that. At the same time, I felt very strongly about this new and exciting opportunity with the Cavaliers. I am very thankful to Dan Gilbert and Koby Altman and honored to be the head coach of the Cavaliers. I love the position the team is in to build and grow and this was something I felt was the perfect fit for me. With hard work and dedication by all of us, we will grow this team day by day and reinforce a culture of success that sustains itself with strong core values. Cleveland is a great city with amazing fans and I am really looking forward to calling Cleveland home for years to come.”
This was the third swing the Cavaliers had taken at an established college coach. In 2010 they offered their head coach job to Michigan State Tom Izzo and in 2014 they pursued Kentucky’s John Calipari. In both instances each coach chose to remain at their respective institutions.
