It's official: John Beilein has now replaced all of the banners that were taken down.
Two Final Four banners, a Big Ten Tournament Championship banner, and even an NIT banner were taken down. It felt like the end of Michigan basketball.
But Beilein has now put up two new Final Four banners and a new Big Ten Tournament Championship banner to replace them. And he's even replaced the NIT banner with a second Big Ten Tournament banner for extra credit.
It certainly does not feel like he's done putting up banners at Michigan either.
And he's done it so squeaky clean this time around, even his own players make fun of him.
Most underrated coach in America. But that's starting to change, and the talent is starting to flow in in recognition.
Johnny Banners.
March 25th, 2018 at 12:53 AM ^
March 25th, 2018 at 12:53 AM ^
March 25th, 2018 at 12:54 AM ^
They already brought up Steve Fisher and the Fab Five this year. Beilein responded by saying that he'd welcome Fisher back with open arms to the program.
Beilein knows that the Fab Five and Fisher have a rightful place in the pantheon of Michigan Baskeball.
"Steve and I have been friends, ever since he was the Michigan coach," said Beilein, who has led the Wolverines since the 2007-08 season. "He's gone out of his way over and over again for me, when I'm on the road traveling, with the Nike trips. We've spent a lot of time together."
Asked whether he thinks a reunion could happen, he replied: "I know that's in the plans."
Beilein wouldn't elaborate beyond saying, "I'd rather keep it right there." But he was clearly pleased that the question was even broached, offering him an opportunity to discuss his longtime friend and the role he might play in a program that will be forever tied to him.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2018/03/14/michigans-beilei…
How many times does one need to cut-and-paste the same paragraph into the same thread? We get it.
Maybe CBS will make Webber broadcast our game.
That would be, um, interesting.
March 25th, 2018 at 12:54 AM ^
that it has been 29 years since...
have nice things......!!!
March 25th, 2018 at 12:54 AM ^
March 25th, 2018 at 12:55 AM ^
Best Damn Coach in the Country. Period.
March 25th, 2018 at 12:56 AM ^
And he's done it without the one-and-done's that even Coach K has turned to.
Amazing job.
March 25th, 2018 at 12:56 AM ^
Maybe this can be the event that puts it all behind us.
Invite everyone back. It's time to embrace everyone.
That old era is over. We've overcome it and we've moved on.
How about an apology from Chris first?
Why are we serving him when he took part in causing one of darkest period in Michigan sports?
That being said, I think the unviersity needs to move on from avoiding their obvious legacy, and should be unafraid to talk about the Fab Five.
But an invitation back? There is one incomplete step that needs to be completed before that happens.
We don't need his apology. He does not define us.
The program is much bigger than anything Chris Webber does or doesn't do.
He can't hold us hostage. We've moved on.
Beilein already stated that Fisher will be recognized officially by Michigan Basketball soon a couple weeks ago.
"Steve and I have been friends, ever since he was the Michigan coach," said Beilein, who has led the Wolverines since the 2007-08 season. "He's gone out of his way over and over again for me, when I'm on the road traveling, with the Nike trips. We've spent a lot of time together."
Asked whether he thinks a reunion could happen, he replied: "I know that's in the plans."
Beilein wouldn't elaborate beyond saying, "I'd rather keep it right there." But he was clearly pleased that the question was even broached, offering him an opportunity to discuss his longtime friend and the role he might play in a program that will be forever tied to him.
March 25th, 2018 at 12:58 AM ^
March 25th, 2018 at 12:59 AM ^
If you count the two banners we had to take down, we've now tied Indiana with 8 final fours.
MSU with 9 and OSU with 10(11)
Not sure about OSU, but MSU only has 3 NCG appearances; they have a pretty terrible 3-6 record within the Final Four.
Michigan has been to more NCGs than MSU (even if you exclude the two that were removed).
...the reporting has been that this is "michigan's eighth final four," with nary a mention of the vacated versions.
Because that's how it should be when you are caught cheating. Wouldn't really be a punishment if Louisville could still claim the 2013 national championship they stole from us.
it's going to be real dusty at my place if coach Beilein gets to climb the ladder a week from Monday. And you're right. No coach is more deserving
So can we stop rehashing whether or not to rehang the old ones? This program has done things the right way. It's won with honor and integrity in an age when no one else does that, and it's put banners in the rafters anway.
It's a better testament to this program to have Beilein's banners in the rafters instead of trying to explain away or forget the sins of the past. Michigan Basketball went through a lot to get here. For all the guys who went through the doldrums, leave those old banners exactly where they are so we can celebrate what they buillt.
What this means to me is that those old banners no longer define us.
Put them up. Leave them down. I don't really care.
It does not matter.
We've moved on as a program.
If Michigan indeed moved on, and it did when the university willingly vacated those wins and put the banners in mothballs in 2002, leave them in the past. Period. Don't know how you can say this program wins with integrity if it can go back over fifteen years later and say "well, about that... we've won enough where our past cheating doesn't matter anymore."
It's part of our history, we can't change it. We own it.
I wouldn't glorify it, but I wouldn't bend over backwards trying to hide it either.
The important thing is that we've been an absolute model program since that era 25 years ago.
If there was a lesson to be learned, we did learn it.
And the way Michigan learned it was by putting those banners at the Bentley and vacating the wins. It's a part of history, yes. But that doesn't mean when Michigan wins enough, the university can go back and reclaim everything it gave up as penance. Doesn't mean hiding--it means owning up and accepting punishment. Which is what those banners in mothballls signify.
Um, the movement to acknowledge the Fab Five is already in the works per Beilein himself.
"Steve and I have been friends, ever since he was the Michigan coach," said Beilein, who has led the Wolverines since the 2007-08 season. "He's gone out of his way over and over again for me, when I'm on the road traveling, with the Nike trips. We've spent a lot of time together."
Asked whether he thinks a reunion could happen, he replied: "I know that's in the plans."
Beilein wouldn't elaborate beyond saying, "I'd rather keep it right there." But he was clearly pleased that the question was even broached, offering him an opportunity to discuss his longtime friend and the role he might play in a program that will be forever tied to him.
That's great, but a reunion is an entirely different conversation than "let's rehang the banners."
...and you said it perfectly. i've been trying to find a way to say this for a while.
to me, it's like the pete rose / joe jackson / steroids thing with the baseball hall of fame. some people say let them in and put it on the plaque. i say nope nope nope. they cheated, they don't get to be honored. joe jackson in particular - it's not hyperbole to say that the black sox almost killed professional baseball in this country in it's then-current form. i don't think the death penalty was ever quite on the table for michigan basketball, but man, was it ever bad. dark, dark days.
here's one - it's gotten popular to say that we're the 'true' 2013 champs because louisville vacated the title. so, thought experiment - assume they've taken their 2013 banner down. and in 2028, when they've hired a super-clean coach and won some with him (i know, this is louisville, it'll never happen, but bear with me)...what do you think will happen if they put their 2013 banner back up? i know one thing - this board will lose its freaking mind.
i'm fine with saying the fab five were great. i had a ton of fun watching those guys. but putting the banners back up is kinda like pretending it never happened, andi don't ever want to forget that.
March 25th, 2018 at 10:33 AM ^
Look at the guys he's doing it with. Matthews was a star, but he was cast off as a transfer and has limits to his game. Nobody knew about Wagner. People had written off Z last year. MAAR was a 2-star and even as late as last year was a guy with some handle that was mediocre from distance and couldn't play D. Duncan Robinson, never the next Stauskas.
National media members right now: Who are these guys?
They appear to be a very similar team, and maybe equally well-coached. They shoot better than us, too. We will need to out defense them or they will be serious trouble.
They run a good offense and consistently get the shots they want. They're disciplined. They have some capable shooters too. They are prone to turnovers and it will be important to disrupt their offense. They don't have a player like Rob Gray that might beat you by himself.
Their defense is not nearly as good as ours or as a couple that we've faced in the tournament. Our players will get good shots against them.
March 25th, 2018 at 10:31 AM ^
They are for real. They would not be in the Final Four if they were not.
But they are Michigan-lite. They are not going to surprise us the way they (and we) surprise other teams that aren't used to seeing the system. Especially with Beilein having a week to prepare.
March 25th, 2018 at 10:34 AM ^
Beilein out worked everybody for Wagner. Flying over to Germany just to meet him and flying immediately back to go back to work, not knowing if it would pay off or not.
That had to be a lonely trip.
I don't really care what we do with those fab five banners. Izzo, Coach K, Roy Williams, Bill Self's banners are tarnished as well because they do the same thing that Fisher did.
And that doesn't make any difference. Just because everyone else did it and still has their banners up doesn't mean Michigan should rehang them. "Leaders and Best" means something.
Until Chris apologizes (which won't happen), I see no reason to put those dusty things back up.
We remember the Fab Five legacy, and we also remember why they don't have banners. That's the way it should be. I still love the Fab Five, but I no longer mourn the fact that the banners remain locked away in the basement. Neither do I think the rest of the Fab Five do anymore. They transcended the final score and the banners, their legacy lived beyond that. As Jalen said, (without Google) you CANNOT tell me the starting five of the UNC team that beat them. Also, these vacated wins demonstrate our willingness to punish ourselves and work toward change, unlike these other schools who will soon be FORCED to take their banners down. We know what we did wrong, and should never forget it, and that's what those (lack of) banners represent.
It also represents our building back up toward greatness! Beilein HAS done things the right way, and we should be more than happy with the new CHAMPIONS we have and the banners that will remain in the rafters at Crisler.
So proud of our team. Go Blue!!!