Former Michigan Basketball Coach Believes in Illinois Basketball
John Beilein certainly had Illinois Basketball’s number. The former Michigan Basketball coach went 17-8 during his tenure at Illinois, including winning his last fourteen of the sixteen meetings. For a period of time, Beilein had Michigan Basketball humming toward the top of the Big Ten and the country. Year after year, Coach Beilein had his team in a sweet 16 or elite eight while also producing a large amount of pros to the NBA. Nik Stauskas, Caris Levert, Tim Hardaway Jr, Trey Burke, and more elevated the Michigan brand. What has happened since? That is a different story. However, Beilein should be regarded as one of the best in the business and one of the better basketball minds.
He is currently working with BTN and came away impressed with Illinois Basketball after they topped the Wisconsin Badgers.
A Win and A Statement
Beilein stated “I am an Illinois believer. They finally got me.” This came immediately after Illinois Basketball came away with a hard-nosed victory in Madison against the Wisconsin Badgers. Wisconsin desperately needed this game as they have been abysmal in the month of February. However, Illinois Basketball withstood a strong early punch and a late punch back, to continue their overall dominance of the Badgers.
As stated before, Illinois has a tough stretch to close out the season. This game against Wisconsin was the first of three quad-one games to end their regular season slate. They will now host their own senior night in front of a rowdy home crowd as they take on the Purdue Boilermakers. After that, Illinois will need to refocus themselves on the desperate Iowa Hawkeyes on the road.
If Illinois can win one of these next two games, fans will be sitting pretty optimistic heading into postseason play.
More must-reads: