The John Beilein Era

I remember when Michigan fired Tommy Amaker. I was very conflicted. I thought the program's best hope was with signee Manny Harris, and without Amaker I wasn't sure he would follow through with his commitment. It was dire times, as Michigan was still lost in the woods following the crippling self imposed sanctions that Amaker had to coach through.

I also really respected Tommy Amaker. I liked his demeanor and ability to sell Michigan to recruits given our performance at the time. My respect for Tommy grew even more after he showed up at the U of M bus depot after the 2006-2007 season - at a time when he knew he wasn't going to be around long - and handed out Michigan Basketball T-shirts to the bus drivers for helping support the program throughout the year. (we often drove charters for the team).

When Beilein took over for the 2007-2008 season I was a Junior, and it was a rough season - most losses in Michigan history. When big-man Ekpe Udoh transferred after that first year, and other big-man Ron Coleman graduated, it looked like Michigan was in for years of rebuilding going into the 2008-2009 season. No one really thought much of the recruiting class of Ben Cronin, Stu Douglass and Zack Novak.

I didn't go to many basketball or hockey games my first two years at Michigan. I regret not finding Hockey sooner. The games at Yost were magical, and as a junior and senior I found out that I lived close enough to walk the half-block to my house and drink 3-5 beers during intermission and walk back in with the smokers. Basketball on the other hand wasn't as magical. Games my Sophomore and Junior year were dredges. Crisler Arena was a long walk, and the product was not fun. The one benefit was that unlike hockey, you could get into Basketball games with just your M-Card to some games and walk right down to the Maize Rage section. That's how little support there was.

The 2008-2009 basketball season was unforgettable. I remember when Michigan snuck into the tourney as a 10 seed for the first time in a decade. The sentiment from the students was "who knows when this will happen again?" The guys we would pre-game and go to the game with decided it we had to go to the tourney.

*I started to write about the unforgettable tourney experience, but then remembered that I had blogged about this 9 years ago. So I went back a read it, and it matched my recollection pretty well.

Hindsight is what it is, but a decade ago, I would never have imagined the heights that Michigan Basketball would reach over the next 10 years. I quickly came around enough this team that I was willing to put $40 on Michigan to in the National Championship in 2013 before the season started. That was still when Michigan wasn't expected to be a contender, and the odds reflected that. It'll be awhile before Michigan is back under 40:1 odds for a title.

I think it's about time I throw away that old Tommy Amaker shirt. I might need a new one.