Pistons make hiring of John Beilein, ‘one of the best teachers in the game,’ official

Detroit News

In the midst of their franchise restoration, general manager Troy Weaver added another important piece with the hiring of former Michigan coach John Beilein as a senior adviser for player development.

The hiring was reported Tuesday, and the team made an announcement on Wednesday afternoon.

“John has been one of the best fundamental teachers in the college game for years,” coach Dwane Casey said in a team statement. “With the age of our core group, I wanted to add to our excellent developmental staff. John is a basketball lifer with a passion to help young players get better, especially in the area of shooting.

“We have an excellent group of young development coaches who have done a good job with our young core. John will add to and enrich the development staff’s quest to get our youth brigade to the next level.”

Beilein, 68, who coached 12 seasons at Michigan and helped them reach two NCAA championship games, will be working with the Pistons’ coaching staff and development coaches in improving their skill-development programs. He previously was the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2019-20, before resigning 54 games into his tenure there.

The Pistons went 20-52 this season and with a core of young players, he can focus on his strength of teaching fundamentals and analyzing their offensive scheme to find areas of improvement.

“There is nothing more important to our franchise right now than the growth and development of our players,” Pistons team owner Tom Gores said in the statement. “Having spent time with John, we all know he is one of the best teachers in the game of basketball at any level.

“Dwane’s decision and desire to bring him on board underscores our commitment to helping this young Pistons team maximize its potential. John will be a real asset to the organization and we are fortunate to have him join us.”

Beilein had been a head coach for every year of his career, never serving as an assistant coach at the high school, college or in the NBA. He had his greatest success at Michigan, where he coached from 2007-2019 and had a 278-150 record, including nine trips to the NCAA Tournament. He lifted the Wolverines from a moribund program to one of the top teams in the Big Ten.

Rod.Beard@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @detnewsRodBeard

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