"To think that Beilein — a man who worked his way up from a junior varsity coaching position at Newfane High School, to Erie Community College, to Nazareth College, to Le Moyne College, to Canisius College, to the University of Richmond, to West Virginia University, to the University of Michigan, to the Cleveland Cavaliers — wouldn’t jump at the next challenge is, simply, to ignore a personal history of self-belief. Beilein wants to win (or not lose) and test his X’s against the best O’s. That’s it.

As Beilein told me that day last summer: “People don’t know me. They really don’t know me. People think they peg me, but they really don’t know me. But that’s OK.”

At the end of the day, this is a chance for John Beilein to take his two-guard offense to the NBA and use it against the greatest players on earth. Forty-three years of coaching have all led up to this."