In September, federal prosecutors charged assistant basketball coaches at four Division I schools with taking bribes to steer players to teams sponsored by Adidas; the shoemaker’s global marketing director was also arrested. Louisville fired Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, and an Associated Press survey of college basketball powers found that two dozen had launched their own internal investigations.
The U-M didn’t. After the Fab Five pay-for-play scandal in the 1990s, Michigan made strides in cleaning up its reputation under Tommy Amaker. Under John Beilein, it’s recognized as perhaps the cleanest major program in the country.
Beilein has taken the Wolverines to the NCAA tournament in six of the past seven years–yet by all accounts, he’s done it without cutting ethical corners. This past summer, CBS asked more than 100 coaches to name a major-power colleague who “operates completely within the NCAA’s rulebook.” Only two coaches were named by more than 8 percent of the respondents. Ten percent suggested Notre Dame’s Mike Brey–and 26 percent named Beilein.
