John Beilein is moving on from the University of Michigan and is now the new head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, leading to the first coaching search for the men’s basketball program in 12 years and the first major hire between the hoops and football programs for athletic director Warde Manuel. We will keep tabs of the coaching search and the names that emerge here throughout the process and will update this with any information that becomes available as we get closer to a hire. May 13 The first candidate to address potential interest in the job was Alabama’s Nate Oats, who cut his teeth coaching Romulus High School and was hired by the Tide after his work at Buffalo the last few years. He has taken his name out of consideration, but endorsed U-M assistant Saddi Washington, a former pupil of his at Romulus, for a chance at the gig. (247Sports) Manuel released a statement on Monday, saying that he was saddened to hear the news, but promises a “full national search” in finding U-M’s next head basketball coach. (Maize n Brew) May 15 Jeff Goodman from Stadium is reporting Notre Dame’s Mike Brey and Florida’s Mike White are two coaches unlikely to leave their current job for the Michigan gig. Brey’s name has not appeared at all during this coaching search, but White’s had been thrown around some. May 16 Handful of updates posted from Sam Webb, mostly revolving around Billy Donovan and Brad Stevens not being interested, but endorsing former assistants of theirs in Shaka Smart and LaVall Jordan (Michigan Insider, VIP) Interestingly enough, Michigan assistant Luke Yaklich is interviewing for a job on Shaka Smart’s staff at Texas. (Brian Davis) Dick Vitale speaks to Texas Tech HC Chris Beard, who tells him it would take a “special offer” to pull him away from his current job. (Dick Vitale) May 17 A first confirmation of interest from a candidate himself, with Miami Heat assistant (and former member of the Fab Five) Juwan Howard saying the search firm has reached out to him and said AD Warde Manuel is “very interested” in speaking to him about the position. (Jordan Schultz, ESPN) Juwan Howard and Warde Manuel have a meeting planned for Tuesday (May 21st). (Josh Henschke, Michigan Insider) May 20 Manuel is meeting with Providence head coach Ed Cooley on Monday prior to Juwan Howard’s interview on Tuesday for the job. A decision may be coming by the end of this week on who the next coach will be. Both Luke Yaklich and Saddi Washington have interviewed for the job. (Nick Baumgardner, Detroit Free Press) May 21 Ed Cooley has presumably taken himself out of the running for the job, or not been selected (or maybe just used the interview process for a raise), with Providence Basketball tweeting that Cooley is “staying home.” (Providence). Juwan Howard’s interview set to take place on Tuesday in Miami. May 22 Multiple media reports say that Michigan has offered the job to Juwan Howard and that contract negotiations are currently ongoing, though a deal is far from done at this point. It appears Michigan has its man. (Jon Rothstein and Detroit Free Press) Shaka Smart and Texas still reportedly have strong interest in bringing in Luke Yaklich (Multiple media reports) The deal is apparently done with Rothstein saying a press conference could be held as soon as later this week or early next week. Jeff Goodman of Stadium says that Howard will receive a five-year deal from Michigan. Feel free to drop any thoughts or scoops you may see in the comments below!<doc-sep>Michigan has found itself in an unenviable position of having to replace longtime and winningest basketball head coach John Beilein in the month of May, after a surprise departure to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday. Given the culture that Beilein has built, the Wolverines are in a much better position to make a move for a great head coach than it was 12 years ago, coming out of the Tommy Amaker years. But will the program be able to land a big fish? All across the media, there are lists abound about who the maize and blue could hire, but it’s first worth noting what athletic director Warde Manuel has set as the criteria for a potential replacement. From the Detroit Free Press’ Orion Sang, who spoke to Manuel at the Big Ten meetings on Monday: The ideal candidate for the coaching search might remind many of the coach who just left Michigan. Manuel is looking for someone who can “coach and teach,” and who has a track record as a head coach, can develop talent without necessarily having 5-star recruits on the roster and possesses a background “beyond reproach.” “I want somebody who wants to coach and teach young men,” Manuel said. “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.” With that in mind, we don’t expect Michigan to reach for its next coach. There are certainly candidates (like the one we’re leading with) that seem like a longshot, but we’ve seen longshot situations work in Ann Arbor — granted, Jim Harbaugh was an alum of the Wolverines, so a return home was something of a foregone conclusion in Washtenaw County and the neighboring. BONUS: Listen to former Michigan forward Anthony Wright discuss Beilein’s legacy and who he’d pick to replace him After searching high and low for the candidates who appear on most publicly available lists, WolverinesWire has compiled some of the prospective candidates to become Michigan’s next head coach, complete with reasons why or why they might not take the job in Ann Arbor. We start out with probably the hottest candidate out there, but certainly the longest shot. Brad stevens – Boston Celtics Stevens, who signed on to coach the Celtics after a successful stint at Butler, is certainly a long shot. Would he even want to return to college? He’s still currently under contract in Boston, but after failing to make the Eastern Conference Finals this year, changes could be afoot. Should Michigan make this happen, it would be nothing short of a grand slam hire. However, we’ll remain highly skeptical until we see any sort of movement in his camp. Here’s what the pundits are saying: This would fall into the same category as Donovan and would, perhaps, be even more of a long shot. The Boston Celtics had a rough close to their season this year, though Stevens hasn’t given any public indication that he’d like to return to college basketball. The former Butler coach, and Indiana native, could’ve had that Indiana job at the snap of his fingers back in 2017 but is still in Boston. The Michigan Wolverines are in the market for a new head coach after John Beilein accepted the Cleveland Cavaliers’ head coaching job. It is unclear if the Wolverines have asked to speak with Stevens, something that if they did would likely get rebuffed by Ainge, Boston’s president of basketball operations. […] Stevens, whose success at Butler was instrumental in the Celtics seeking him out and eventually hiring him to be the franchise’s 17th head coach in 2013, has repeatedly said he’s not looking to leave the Celtics and coach another program in the pro or college ranks. And as recently as 2016, Stevens agreed to a multi-year contract extension that solidified him sticking around for years to come. “It’s an honor to be a member of the Boston Celtics,” Stevens said at the time of his 2016 extension. “And we’ll continue striving for growth in pursuit of Banner 18.” That goal hit a bit of a snag this season when the Celtics, picked by most to at least advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for what would have been a third straight year, fell short in being eliminated by the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference semifinals in just five games. Stevens has been the Boston Celtics’ head coach for the past six years. Before that, he took Butler to two national championship games during his five-year tenure. He’s 42 and, if a disappointing finish to this season has him thinking about returning to college, he’ll find a high-profile gig in Ann Arbor.<doc-sep>The University of Michigan’s search for a men’s basketball coach to replace the recently departed John Beilein is starting to take shape, but is still an ongoing situation. Per multiple sources with direct knowledge of the search, Michigan has conducted fact-finding interviews with representatives for prospective candidates but had not entered into the formal interview stage with any candidate as of Thursday afternoon. Multiple sources confirmed to the Free Press that athletic director Warde Manuel's list of candidates includes former Michigan player and current Miami Heat assistant coach Juwan Howard as well as former Michigan assistant and current Butler head coach LaVall Jordan. The search is being led by Manuel and assisted by search firm Turnkey Search. The full depth of Manuel’s list, and his overall preference, is not clear at this time. As of Thursday afternoon, there was plenty of vetting happening with regard to all prospective candidates. Multiple reports have linked Texas head coach Shaka Smart as a person of interest in Michigan’s search. Smart has a buyout figure at Texas of $12.9 million if he’s fired. What that number would be if he breaks his deal is unclear. More:John Beilein on leaving Michigan for NBA: 'It was the right thing to do' Sources also confirmed that Manuel has not entered a phase of the search where specific buyout language has been discussed with any candidate. The other wrinkle with Smart is his reported interest in adding Michigan assistant Luke Yaklich to his staff. Yaklich, per the Austin American-Statesman, interviewed with Smart in Texas on Thursday. Also Thursday, 247Sports reported that neither Oklahoma City Thunder coach Billy Donovan nor Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens is interested in the job. The site also reported that Providence head coach Ed Cooley, 49, could be a name under consideration. In terms of a timeline, the expected range is between two to three weeks total. The search began Monday, meaning Michigan could have a coach, possibly, before June. No timeline is set in stone, however. More:John Beilein says the hardest part of leaving Michigan was leaving the players Earlier on Thursday, 4-star forward Jalen Wilson, who signed with Michigan in the fall, asked for a release from his letter of intent due to Beilein’s departure to the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers. Michigan’s search process, per sources, is operating with as much speed as possible due to the timing of Beilein’s exit, but Manuel is not rushing the process simply because of short-term concerns. Howard, 46, has been an assistant with the Heat since 2013. He is a famed member of Michigan’s Fab Five teams from the early 1990s. Earlier Thursday, his former teammate Jalen Rose offered a public endorsement for Howard at Michigan. Former Michigan player Mark Hughes, the current assistant general manager of the Los Angeles Clippers, also voiced support for Howard on Thursday. The biggest catch with Howard is the fact he’s never coached college basketball. He also reportedly has had interest from NBA teams about head coaching vacancies this spring. Jordan, 40, was a Michigan assistant coach under Beilein from 2010-16 and was instrumental in the offensive adaptation that saw the Wolverines win two Big Ten titles (2012, 2014) and earn a trip to the national title game in 2013. He’s 37-31 in two years at Butler. Last summer, Jordan received a contract extension from the school. The exact details, and any possible buyout, aren’t public. Smart, 42, is 71-66 during four years at Texas. His most successful run as a coach came during his stint at VCU, which featured a Final Four appearance in 2011 and a 163-56 record. Contact Nick Baumgardner at nbaumgardn@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickbaumgardner. Read more on the Michigan Wolverines and sign up for our Wolverines newsletter.<doc-sep>Michigan basketball has to replace head coach John Beilein and while there are many candidates, here are five that are the most realistic. It has been a whirlwind 24 hours for everyone who follows Michigan basketball and with the Wolverines embarking on a head-coaching search, things won’t settle down anytime soon. When it comes down it, this hire is the most important hire of Warde Manuel’s career and it’s one that will easily define the success or failure of Michigan basketball for the next decade. Look how far back the football program was set when Rich Rodriguez was the head coach, it took a long time to get competitive again and the basketball team doesn’t want to go down that road. That being said, there is a lot of discussion about what kind of coach Michigan basketball should hire. Obviously, guys like Brad Stevens, Chris Beard, Jay Wright and Tony Bennett would be tremendous hires, but they aren’t realistic. Unless Stevens is fired by the Celtics, I don’t see him as a possibility. Even then, he may be more interested in another NBA job. The other guys aren’t going to leave after winning championships or in the case of Beard, getting really close to winning one. That doesn’t mean Michigan doesn’t have options, it does. UM has an elite program, a ton of resources, a solid fanbase, a decent group of players returning and everything needed to win. So here is a look at five guys who could realistically replace Beilein.<doc-sep>
It’s still very early in the process to find the next Michigan basketball coach, but after a couple of days, here’s a look at some of the rumors swirling. When it comes to difficult jobs, there can’t be many that are as hard as having to replace John Beilein as the head coach of Michigan basketball. Beilein became a legend as the head man of Michigan basketball, winning more games than any coach in program history and twice leading the Wolverines to the national championship game. In 12 years, UM made the NCAA tournament nine times, including five trips to the Sweet 16. Beilein also had his own style, both when it came to coaching the game and recruiting. Replacing him won’t be easy and that task has fallen to athletic director Warde Manuel, who will be making his first major hire at Michigan. Certainly, there are of a lot of things to consider and honestly, Beilein didn’t do Michigan any favors with the late timing of his departure. Nate Oats is one candidate that would have been considered and likely would be open to the job, but after leaving Buffalo for Alabama just weeks ago, it’s not an option. Fred Hoiberg may have been another candidate but he is now at Nebraska. While it may leave the door more open for NBA guys like Brad Stevens and Billy Donovan, the chances of Michigan basketball getting either don’t seem too high. The most likely candidate from the NBA could be Juwan Howard. At any rate, the rumor mill is working overtime with the coaching search off and running, and here is a look at some of the early rumblings, as well as what to make of them.