Allison Toffle, Associated Press John Beilein faces the media yesterday inside the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, W.Va.

By Ray Fittipaldo
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Former West Virginia basketball coach John Beilein bid his players farewell yesterday, one day after accepting an offer to become the new head coach at the University of Michigan.

Beilein's departure marks the end of an era at West Virginia, which had rebuilt its basketball reputation in five seasons under his direction. Beilein guided his West Virginia teams to a 104-60 record, two NCAA tournament appearances and a 27-9 record and National Invitation Tournament championship this past season.

"Sometimes, good things come to an end," Beilein said at a news conference on the West Virginia campus after meeting with his players one last time. "It's time for me to do new things at a new university."

Beilein, 54, rebuilt the Mountaineers into a stable Big East Conference program after some tumultuous years at the end of Gale Catlett's 24-year reign. West Virginia won one Big East game in Catlett's final season in 2002 and made the NCAA tournament once in his final 10 seasons as coach.

The highlight of Beilein's tenure came in 2005, when a late-season surge resulted in the Mountaineers' first NCAA tournament appearance since 1998. They entered the tournament as a No. 7 seed and advanced to the Elite Eight after upsets of Wake Forest and Texas Tech in the second and third rounds.

This past season was supposed to be a rebuilding year for Beilein, but the Mountaineers surprised with 10 Big East victories. Had it not been for a double-overtime loss to Louisville in a Big East quarterfinal, the Mountaineers likely would have made three consecutive NCAA tournaments. As it was, the Mountaineers beat Clemson Thursday to win the NIT.

The Beilein years
A look at John Beilein's career as West Virginia basketball coach.
Year	W-L	Postseason
2002-03	14-15	Lost to Providence in first round of Big East tournament
2003-04	17-14	Lost to Rutgers in third round of NIT
2004-05	24-11	Lost to Louisville in Elite Eight
2005-06	22-11	Lost to Texas in Sweet 16
2006-07	27-9	Beat Clemson to win NIT

Beilein attended the Final Four in Atlanta the next day, when discussions with Michigan began.

"I'm excited about this new opportunity at Michigan," Beilein said. "I wouldn't go there if I didn't think they could win a national championship."

Michigan is responsible for a $2.5 million buyout payment ($500,000 for each year remaining on his contract) to West Virginia and is expected to pay Beilein around $1 million per season, according to The Associated Press. It was the second year in a row West Virginia had to go through the process of another school courting Beilein. Last year, North Carolina State wanted Beilein, but the Wolfpack could not negotiate a settlement of his buyout, which at the time was $3 million.

"We want to thank John Beilein for his five years at West Virginia University and the success that he has brought to the program," West Virginia athletic director Ed Pastilong said in a statement. "Under his leadership, WVU has achieved new levels of national prominence and success within the Big East."

Pastilong is charged with the responsibility of finding Beilein's replacement. Two candidates that should be mentioned prominently are Eastern Kentucky coach Jeff Neubauer and Kansas State coach Bob Huggins.

Neubauer led Eastern Kentucky to the NCAA tournament in his second season with the Colonels. He is a viable candidate if the Mountaineers want to keep Beilein's system intact because he was an assistant coach under Beilein at West Virginia for three seasons and for five seasons at Richmond, where they built the Spiders into one of the top programs in the Colonial Athletic Association and later the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Neubauer, 36, is the youngest coach in the Ohio Valley Conference. He led the Colonels to a 21-12 record and the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship. Eastern Kentucky lost to North Carolina, 86-65, in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

If West Virginia is looking to make a big splash, the Mountaineers could look to Huggins, who played for the Mountaineers from 1975-77. He led Kansas State to a 23-12 record and made the NIT in his first season with the Wildcats. Huggins had been the head coach at Cincinnati from 1989-2005. He did not coach in 2005-06.

Huggins was interested in the West Virginia job five years ago when Beilein was hired, but decided to stay at Cincinnati, where he later lost a power struggle with school president Nancy Zimpher and resigned.

One thing that could play a role in the hiring of the new coach is the vacant school president post. West Virginia is currently conducting a search for a new president. One of the finalists is M. Duane Nellis, a former West Virginia dean and now a provost at Kansas State.

But as much as it makes sense for Huggins to come home to West Virginia, the timing is not great because he has a commitment from one of the top players in the country to play for Kansas State next season.

Michael Beasley, the No. 1 recruit in the country according to most scouting services, has signed a letter of intent with the Wildcats. One of the top recruits of 2006, Billy Walker, was a freshman this past season and averaged 9.7 points per game.

Another Division I head coach with West Virginia ties is Duquesne's Ron Everhart, who grew up in nearby Fairmont.

"I'm not a candidate," Everhart said last night. "It's typical coaching rumor mill stuff. I am very happy at Duquesne University. This is a special place."