ROSEMONT, Ill. — Last spring, Warde Manuel told reporters here at Big Ten headquarters that he wanted John Beilein to be Michigan's basketball coach until the day Beilein retired.

Beilein's no longer at Michigan, and he didn't retire. On Monday, he chose to accept the head-coaching job with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

And that means Manuel's search is on for Michigan's next basketball coach.

“I’m considering many different candidates," Manuel said Monday night at Big Ten headquarters just outside Chicago. "I’m taking a lot in right now and seeing who is interested. I have my sense of who I’d like to be interested but I’m also given a sense of who’s interested. People have to absorb the information that there’s a change and think about it, talk to their close advisors, talk to their friends and spouses to figure out if this is something they want to do.

"And so I’ve been around long enough to know that in the first 12 hours, you don’t jump at every candidate that throws their hand up. You wait and allow people to think about it and see where the fit is.”

When asked about a timeline for the search, Manuel said, "The timeline is I want to get it right."

“While I’d like it to be done ASAP, I’m also going to take the time to make sure that we find the right person for Michigan," he continued.

While Manuel was in the loop — Beilein first let him know of the talks between him and the Cavaliers at the beginning of May — he was still surprised by the final decision.

"I wish him well, but it did hit me by surprise," Manuel said. "I knew some of the conversations had been going on, he was very good about keeping me posted that there were some conversations, some talk going on, some interest in having those conversations. But we’re surprised by the final outcome."

When asked if he was prepared for the possibility of something like this happening after Beilein interviewed for the Detroit Pistons' head coaching job last summer, Manuel said, "(I'm) always prepared. Try to be, at least."

“You hope to never have to do anything with it," he continued. "But you try to prepare and think about next steps and have conversations around what that would look like and who that may be. But wasn’t hoping to implement any plans.”

The difficulty of this coaching search lies in the timing. Manuel said the ideal period for a coaching change is between the middle of March and the middle of April.

"A lot of movement has already occurred," he said. "Things have settled down, for the most part. We’ll see where it goes. Have already received significant number of calls and a lot of interest in the potential for this position.

“People have settled into their role and where they want to be. Some coaches who’ve had success have moved to other programs at this time, I’m sure that that will weigh on them and their families and the institutions that they’re at."

The ideal candidate for the coaching search might remind many of the coach who just left Michigan. Manuel is looking for someone who can "coach and teach," and who has a track record as a head coach, can develop talent without necessarily having 5-star recruits on the roster and possesses a background "beyond reproach."

“I want somebody who wants to coach and teach young men," Manuel said. "To drive success on the court and off the court. Academically, we’ve been as solid as well as we’ve played. We’ve had young men with character who have done the right thing. So I want that.

"If I can get a proven coach, someone with a track record as a head coach, that’s what I’d like to see. And then I want somebody who can coach, who can develop talent. John did it and this league does it year in, year out without teams full of 5-stars. We develop talent in the league, we’re a tough league that plays hard, so I’m looking for somebody that can develop talent and who can also coach.

"And lastly, John has established that you can win with integrity and do things the right way. And given some of the issues that have popped up in this sport, I want to assure that whoever leads our program understands that, has that in their background, where they’re beyond reproach. And so I’ll search for somebody as well and make sure we dot our I’s and cross our T’s around that.”

This is the biggest test of Manuel's tenure as athletic director. In 12 years at Michigan, Beilein became the winningest coach in program history, resurrecting a program that struggled to emerge from the shadow of the Ed Martin scandal and resulting sanctions in the 1990s.

In many ways, the ideal candidate that Manuel described Monday night resembles Beilein.

The difficulty, of course, is finding a like replacement. Manuel believes the job is attractive, and he's hoping to hire someone who can maintain the level of success Beilein established.

"I think John has really established us as a top-ten program year in and year out for the last three to four years, so I look forward trying to get somebody in here who can help to continue that level of success," Manuel said. "Now, with potentially losing three starters from this year’s team, even John with all the skills and success as the coach, you’re losing in essence in the two-year period, I think we lost seven starters.

"So it’s going to be difficult. Would have been difficult for John anyway, to continue that level of high success. But if there’s anyone (who has) proven that they can develop the talent, it was John, and we’ll look for somebody who can continue to do that.”

Contact Orion Sang at osang@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @orion_sang. Read more on the Michigan Wolverines and sign up for our Wolverines newsletter.