Syracuse, N.Y. ― Before coaching at big-time programs like West Virginia and Michigan and long before becoming the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, John Beilein was the head basketball coach at Le Moyne College in Syracuse.
Now, Beilein, 69, has been named to the College Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Class of 2022 will be enshrined on Nov. 20 as part of National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Weekend, which also features the annual Hall of Fame Classic tournament.
In addition to Beilein, the Class of 2022 inductees are: players Richard Hamilton of Connecticut, Larry Miller of North Carolina, Frank Selvy of Furman, and the late Jimmy Walker of Providence, along with coaches John Beilein, Jerry Krause and Lon Kruger.
They will be joined by championship-winning coaches Jim Calhoun and Roy Williams, who will be formally honored in the Class of 2022 after initially being recognized as part of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame’s founding class in 2006.
Beilein, a native of Burt, New York, got his coaching start at Newfane High School in Western New York. He then moved onto Erie Community College and Nazareth College in Rochester before taking the Le Moyne head coaching job in 1983.
In eight years at Le Moyne, Beilein’s teams went 163-94. He led the Dolphins to eight winning seasons and a berth in the 1988 NCAA Division II tournament.
Beilein left Le Moyne for Canisius in 1992. His career path then led him to Richmond, West Virginia and Michigan. He has 829 career college coaching victories. He made a total of 20 trips to NCAA postseasons, including Final Four runs in 2013 and 2018 while at Michigan.
He spent one season coaching the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers. He is now the Detroit Pistons senior advisor for player development.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim and former Syracuse star Dave Bing have both been inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.