John Beilein long has wondered what else was out there, what it was like at the highest level of basketball, the only level he’d never coached. So he did what a smart, inquisitive, driven man often does late in a storied career — he chased his final goal.
Not many saw it coming at this time, but the clues were abundant for a while. Beilein’s departure from Michigan to become coach of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers was stunning in its suddenness Monday, but not in its motive.