Pair of Aces



Rookies Meet the Media on Friday Afternoon in Independence

One night after his first war room experience as head coach of the Cavaliers, John Beilein could barely keep the smile off his face on Friday afternoon – with (most of) his talented incoming freshman class seated to his right and his newly-assembled coaching staff in the audience.

As the media gathered to meet the Wine & Gold’s newest Draft picks – Vanderbilt guard Darius Garland and Belmont swingman Dylan Windler – Cleveland’s coach had visions of this season’s backcourt dancing in his head.

On Draft night, Koby Altman talked about the pairing of the explosive Garland and last year’s top pick – All-Rookie performer Collin Sexton. On Friday, Beilein discussed that potential tandem again, and after a little X’s and O’s talk, surmised it succinctly: “The two of them are going to be beautiful together – and they’re going to make me a much better coach than I am.”

Garland – the No. 5 overall pick in 2019 Draft – played only four college contests before suffering a left knee injury in the fifth. But scouts saw enough of the youngster who won four straight Tennessee high school state championships to make him a Lottery pick. And the Cavaliers contingent saw a jaw-dropping private workout in Los Angeles that convinced them to take him fifth overall.

”I think I shot the ball really well in the private workout and I think that’s what caught coach’s eye,” smiled the former McDonald’s All-American. “There was a little bit of pressure, because the whole (Cavaliers) staff came. And that really meant a lot to me, that they were really interested. I knew I had to come put on a show for them.”

Coach Beilein added: “He was shooting from back in Nashville and we were out in California.”

Garland – the son of former NBA player, Winston Garland – was a five-star recruit out of Brentwood Academy and committed to Vanderbilt as the top recruit in school history. He got off to a blazing start, leading both squads with 24 points in a win over Winthrop in his debut and dropping 33 points on Liberty two games later. Early in his next start – a November 23 meeting against Kent State – he went down with the meniscus injury that cut his college career short.

Head coach John Beilein poses with the Cavaliers' two first round selections from the 2019 Draft - Vandy's Darius Garland (right) and Belmont's Dylan Windler (left).

Photo by Aaron Josefcyk

”It was really challenging for me,” said Garland. “That was the first time I had been away from the game that I really love, so it was really hard. But everyone faces adversity, I got over the whole thing, and that's all in the past. Now I'm ready to get going in Cleveland.”

Garland barely got his college career going before it wrapped up and he began preparing for the Draft. The man seated to his right, Dylan Windler, has been preparing for the Draft for the past four years – compiling a prolific run at Belmont, leading the mid-major to an NCAA Tournament appearance.

The two-sport athlete posted a monster senior season at Belmont, just down the street from Vanderbilt – shooting 43 percent from deep, canning 100 triples and piling up 18 double-doubles along the way. In the Bruins’ First Round loss to Maryland, the 22-year-old from Indianapolis went off for 35 points and 11 boards.

“It’s been a pretty smooth transition,” said Windler, one of just three Division I players last season to average at least 20.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per contest. “Obviously, it’s a bit different coming from Belmont to the pros, but to be able to leave Belmont as such a great program and being able to play for Coach Byrd and help him get those wins in the Tournament and just represent Belmont and all the mid-majors everywhere is definitely an honor.”

Windler, who admitted on Friday he can mash a golf ball 350 feet, will give Beilein and the Cavaliers some much-needed size in the backcourt, although like most teams in today’s NBA, it’s less about positions and more about matchups and combinations.

When asked which guard – Sexton or Garland – will be considered the 1, Beilein responded, “It doesn’t make a difference. It’s the whole idea of position-less basketball. It will all depend on who we’re playing and who’s playing well, who’s injured and hopefully we can just morph into whatever shape we need to take for games as time goes on.”

The rookie duo gives Coach Beilein a pair of skilled youngsters to take into his debut season with the Wine & Gold. He and the Cavaliers have a plan – and their two first rounders will begin putting that process into effect this summer.