Michigan’s John Beilein To Take Over As Cavaliers Coach, Signs Five-Year Deal

In what was perhaps one of the most and least shocking hires in the NBA, the Cleveland Cavaliers have hired University of Michigan head coach John Beilein to a five-year contract, it was announced Monday. He’ll hope to turn around the Cavs in the post-LeBron James years.

On Monday, Beilein acknowledged that he was leaving the school and took some time to thank them. At the time, he did not let on where he was going. He wrote: “Thanks to everyone at the Univ of Michigan for their incredible support these last 12 years. Our fans , alums , leaders, players and students are AMAZING It has been a heck of a ride and I hope you enjoyed our teams and staff as much as I did !Go Blue Forever ! #GoBlue.”

In his 12 years at Michigan, Beilein resurrected a long-dormant program. He took the Wolverines to two Final Fours as well as four Big Ten tournament and regular seasons titles. The 66-year-old coach has had his eyes on the NBA for some time, even going deep into negotiations with the Detroit Pistons and the Orlando Magic last year, but didn’t make the jump to the pros until now.

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Beilein has coached at every level of basketball, jumping from high school, junior college, Division III, II and now the NBA. In his college coaching career, he racked up 829 wins and only 468 losses.