Grind, no glitz: How John Beilein made Michigan basketball great again

SAN ANTONIO — The stories did not begin with glamour.

Eleven years ago, John Beilein started a Michigan basketball program that he hoped would produce a load of — as he often says — “great senior days” with plenty of smiles and victories.

He wanted his program to be built from the ground up, with the foundation being home-grown players who went through the system, went through the process, and came out the other side having impacted everything around them for the better.

Long before early NBA departures hit Michigan’s program, this was the vision and plan.

The teams that jump-started Beilein’s program had star power, even if it wasn’t planned. But the team that just finished a season with more wins (33) than any squad in the history of Michigan basketball was an original grinder. No glitz.

Senior co-captains Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman and Duncan Robinson, along with graduate transfer Jaaron Simmons, walked out of a Michigan locker room for the final time Monday night in San Antonio.

Few thought they had any business being at Michigan when they first arrived in Ann Arbor. Fewer had them pegged as critical members of an eventual Final Four team. But when the smoke cleared and the reality of Michigan’s national title loss to Villanova hit, the idea of not being able to play with the seniors who meant so much to the core of this team and this program started to take its toll.

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“This was their last college game ever and to think about the sacrifice they put in,” Michigan sophomore forward Charles Matthews said. “I’ve only been here two years. But I’ve seen all the effort they put into making this team grow.

“I’ll always appreciate them for that.”

Every player inside Michigan’s locker room throughout this postseason run claimed the 2017-18 group was the closest unit they’d ever played on. Robinson and Abdur-Rahkman were at the center of that.

Robinson was a Division III transfer. Abdur-Rahkman was a 2-star recruit. Both wanted a home and a chance. Beilein, ever the owner of a soft spot for those willing to “run through the door for Michigan,” extended the opportunity for both.

Four years later, he and his program were rewarded.

The uniqueness of this team centered around the differing personalities that drove this team.

Zavier Simpson is a tough defender who plays with an edge.

Jordan Poole and Isaiah Livers are carefree freshmen who dubbed themselves “The Drip Boys” months ago.

Moritz Wagner is from Germany. Matthews is from Chicago. Walk-on C.J. Baird is a former manager from Novi who is more than happy to tell you he’ll be going pro in something other than basketball.

Simmons is a point guard who could've stayed at Ohio and could've been the Mid-American Conference's preseason player of the year. But he wanted to get better and he wanted to do so in a place that felt like a basketball family. He never won a starting job, but he'll tell you he improved and found a basketball family.

It all meshed, without a hitch, to the tune of 33 wins.

Michigan had a hard time finding solace Monday night in the Alamodome, but the two longest-tenured seniors know they’ll see perspective soon. And they know they’ll smile about it.

“We were close early on, but you grow together," Robinson said Monday night. "You go through adversity and hardships or whatever it be and you’re galvanized by it. So it hurts that it feels the way it does. I’ve always tried to put things in perspective and it’s tough right now because something you wanted so badly didn’t happen.

“But (Abdur-Rahkman) and I, and the people in this program, they’ve meant so much to us.”

That sentiment was returned in every corner of Michigan’s locker room Monday night.

Poole spoke all season about how important both seniors were for his overall development, though he’d grown especially close to Abdur-Rahkman. They play the same position in Beilein’s system. Abdur-Rahkman is the opposite of Poole in that he is always calm and under control. Even when he was a freshman forced into early playing time due to a depleted roster, Abdur-Rahkman always found a way to get the job done without panicking or causing a fuss.

This season, he helped a freshman — likely his eventual replacement — find the type of balance he’ll need to survive in Michigan’s system and in the game of basketball overall. Poole said last week his main motivation for victories wasn’t necessarily hardware.

It was the opportunity to play one more game with his friends.

“He has so much knowledge, he’s like 27 years old,” Poole said of Abdur-Rahkman through puffed, blood-shot eyes. “I love that guy.”

The first players to make a name for themselves inside Beilein’s version of Michigan basketball were Zack Novak and Stu Douglass. Two Indiana kids, who joked they picked Michigan over an offer from their local YMCA, who eventually helped break Michigan’s NCAA tournament drought before hanging the team’s first Big Ten championship banner in 26 years as senior co-captains in 2012.

More: Michigan basketball's program builders beam with pride

That club has since been joined by players such as Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. Nik Stauskas and Derrick Walton. Jordan Morgan.

Abdur-Rahkman and Robinson are now on that list.

"It's more than basketball," Abdur-Rahkman said. "It's a brotherhood. We're a family. And tonight was rough, but we'll always remember this run, this team. We're 33-8 and nobody expected us to be here.

"We're just always going to remember each other and being part of this team."

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