Beilein to Leave WVU

Dakstang · 04-04-2007, 03:46 PM

This comes from espn.com

Beilein gets $1.3M per season from Michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan will pay John Beilein $1.3 million a season plus bonuses as part of a six-year contract to be its basketball coach.

But the school will not give West Virginia any money for luring him away.

"The buyout was a contractual issue between coach and WVU," Michigan athletic director Bill Martin wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press before he was to introduce Beilein at a news conference Wednesday.

Beilein's previous contract had a $2.5 million buyout clause -- $500,000 for each year remaining on his deal.

"That's something my lawyers are taking care of," Beilein said.

He was introduced Wednesday as the new coach at Michigan. Beilein said it was a difficult decision to make and even tougher informing his Mountaineer players on Tuesday.

"One day you're at the lowest of lows ... and then the next day you walk into an environment like this and it's hard to comprehend sometimes, but we're thrilled," he said at a news conference in Ann Arbor.

Less than a week after leading West Virginia to the NIT championship, Beilein accepted an offer to come to Ann Arbor and revive a program that made its last NCAA Tournament appearance in 1998.

The 54-year-old Beilein is the second straight Big East coach to take over at Michigan and is certain to face high expectations. The Wolverines fired Tommy Amaker in mid-March after the former Seton Hall coach's sixth season without an NCAA bid.

The Wolverines went to the NIT three times in the past four years. They haven't made the NCAAs since 1998.

Beilein has taken teams without great talent to five NCAA tournaments and six NIT appearances in 29 seasons.

When he arrived at West Virginia in April 2002, the Mountaineers were coming off an 8-20 season in which Gale Catlett ended a 24-year career three weeks early in disgust over his team's poor performance and lack of pride.

Beilein went 104-60 at West Virginia, including 27-9 this year despite losing his top four scorers from a year ago. Only one other team in school history won more games -- a Jerry West-led team that lost to California in the NCAA championship game in 1959.

Beilein's teams made deep runs in the NCAA tournament the previous two seasons and the Mountaineers beat Clemson 78-73 for the NIT title last week.

He leaves behind a promising team that loses only top scorer Frank Young and center Rob Summers.

"A lot of guys are really sad and trying to figure out what they're going to do," Summers said. "I told them they're still a team. Even though the coach left, you're still a family."

In 2005, after taking the Mountaineers to the NCAA regional finals, Beilein received a contract extension to throw off a possible courtship from Virginia. A year ago, he was courted heavily by North Carolina State but negotiations broke down over his contract's buyout clause.

West Virginia has become an attractive springboard for coaches lately. In December, Alabama tried to lure football coach Rich Rodriguez before he decided to stay in Morgantown and was given a two-year contract extension. But he lost his offensive line and wide receivers coaches to higher-profile jobs.
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This will hurt West Virginia's Basketball program, but you can't really blame Beilein because that is quite a bit more money.

Beilein to Leave WVU

This is a discussion on Beilein to Leave WVU within the North American Sports forums, part of the Sports Forums category; This comes from espn.com Beilein gets $1.3M per season from Michigan ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan will pay John Beilein ...