As John Beilein compiled a hall-of-fame resume over his 40-year coaching career at a variety of levels, March became the month he thrived.
In a tournament setting of two games in three days, Beilein was hard to beat. If his teams lost, it was rarely because he was out-coached over a 40-minute game.
He didn’t do it through sideline theatrics, catchphrases or fire-and-brimstone pregame speeches. Beilein became known as college basketball’s gentleman. It didn’t take long for him to ditch the sport coat he always wore onto the court, but it was draped carefully over his chair during the game and folded neatly over his arm at game’s end.
But there was a time in Beilein’s career when March was haunting.
Heading into the 1996 MAAC tournament, he was just John. Or at least that’s how his top assistant at Canisius, Mike MacDonald, phrased it. Burt, Newfane, Lockport, Niagara County or any of the other places that eventually planted their flag next his name had yet to claim him en masse.
Two years earlier, Canisius won the MAAC regular-season championship, only to be stunned in the tournament semifinals. The Golden Griffins were second in 1995, but again lost in the semifinals.
They went to the NIT both seasons, including a run to the semifinals in 1995. But the NCAA tournament eluded them.
When the 1996 tournament started, another early end seemed imminent. And then fifth-seeded Canisius went on a run. Three wins, all be fewer than seven points, end with Beilein cutting down the nets in Albany’s Knickerbocker Arena to clinch his first NCAA tournament berth.
Beilein went 12 more times with three other schools over his career, with three Sweet 16s, two Elite Eights and a pair of national championship games. But 1996 was the first, the one that started it all.
“That’s like saying your first child holds a different place,” Beilein told GNN Sports during a phone interview. “… I think it was just getting over that hump at Canisius. We had so many loyal fans, but flamed out in the tournament … or just weren’t in contention for championships. Now, we finally had a championship.”
The 1996 tournament started with a dejected Beilein needing a pep talk from assistant coach Phil Seymour. Although Beilein had good reason to be in a dour mood.
Canisius was 15-6 and 6-3 in the MAAC, riding a five-game winning streak when it headed to Loyola (Maryland) for a Feb. 10 game. That’s when star forward Darrell Barley injured his knee grabbing a rebound.
Barley, now a successful coach for Rochester’s East High School, was the MAAC Player of the TYear. Suddenly 19.5 points and 7.6 rebounds were ripped from Cansius’ lineup. The Golden Griffins lost four of their last five games to close the regular season.
After returning in the regular-season finale, Barley broke his thumb in practice and was out for the conference tournament.
Seymour told Beilein to buck up. The players would know if their coach didn’t think they could win and it would get ugly. It was also a wide-open field after Iona and Fairfield split the regular–season title, plus Canisius still had Michael Meeks, a 6-foot-10 forward who eventually led Canada in scoring during the 2000 Olympics.
And while Beilein wasn’t a national name yet, the MAAC knew how good he was, running an offense — two-guard — that was ahead of its time by using sharpshooting centers and forwards.
“He could take his and beat yours. He could take yours and beat his. He was that good,” said Jack Armstrong, whose Niagara team swept Canisius in 1995-96. “That kind of defined how I felt about John. You parachute him in anywhere, he’ll figure out a team within a few weeks and have them play a smart, fundamentally-sound, cohesive style that makes that team effective and successful.”
Loyola was the Canisius’ quarterfinal matchup, an opponent it beat in overtime with Barley and lost by one without him. In the loss, senior Mickey Frazier called a timeout Canisius didn’t have late in the game and the Golden Griffins fell 64-63.
In the third meeting, Frazier scored a team-high 15 points, while freshman Keith Lambkin scored 11 points in 17 minutes off the bench in a 74-67 win.
Canisius drew top-seeded Iona in the semifinals, a team it split with during the regular season, including a 22-point win in February. Trailing by eight with 12:07 remaining, Canisius went on a 10-2 run over the next five minutes, taking the lead on consecutive 3-pointers by Frazier and Kevin Thompson to win 63-62, finally advancing to the championship game.
And although Beilein’s teams were known for crisp offense, Canisius beat No. 3 Fairfield in a defensive struggle. The Stags shot just 30% from the field, while Frazier — who averaged 9.7 points per game — scored eight points in two minutes to take the lead for good in a 52-46 win, marking the first time a team was held under 50 points in the tournament final.
“We just grinded it out and won,” MacDonald said. “It was just a testament to guys playing together as a team, believing in each other and not caring who scored, not caring who got credit.”
•••
By the time 13th-seeded Canisius arrived in Dallas to face No. 4 Utah in the NCAA tournament, Beilein didn’t need another pep talk. In fact, Beilein was so optimistic Canisius could win that he convinced friends Mike Ennis — owner of Danny Sheehan’s Steakhouse in Lockport — and John Murphy (then working for WKBW) to think likewise.
“It was the worst game I’ve ever watched,” Ennis said. “They were never in it.”
Although Canisius didn’t have Barley, Utah star Keith Van Horn — who would be the No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft the next year — wasn’t going to play due to an illness. Beilein thought they would cancel each other.
Utah won 72-43.
The Utes not only had future NBA players Andre Miller and Michael Doleac, who would lead them to the national final two years later, but they had a superb coach in Rick Majerus. And Majerus knew something Beilein didn’t.
Beilein didn’t know other coaches could watch practices during the NCAA tournament. Utah saw Barley wasn’t going to play or wouldn’t be effective if he did. So they double-teamed Meeks the whole game.
“After that, I always had my staff go to the other team’s shootarounds to see what they really looked like,” Beilein said. “… They’re more for show than anything else, but that was a key part of that game.”
Canisius returned to the MAAC final in 1997, only to be upset 78-72 by eighth-seeded Fairfield in a championship game rematch, ending a run of three consecutive postseason tournament appearances. Richmond hired Beilein after the season and MacDonald was promoted to head coach.
Beilein took Richmond to the NCAA tournament in 1998, upsetting No. 3 South Carolina in the first round. Ennis started the famous bus trips during Beilein’s time at Richmond, continuing at times during his stops at West Virginia and Michigan.
The bus ride Beilein remembers is in 1996, as the team traversed a snowstorm on the way home from Albany. Beilein’s wife, Kathleen, was concerned the bus was going to skid off the road.
But with the MAAC championship trophy tucked safely in the back and Canisius’ first NCAA tournament berth in 40 years coming, a storm wasn’t going to dampen the mood … or their sense of relief.
And a month later, Beilein went to the Final Four in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Banners of every team in the tournament were hung around Continental Airlines Arena and Beilein made sure to take a picture of the Canisius banner.
“There was a dry run (at Canisius) and there’s a dry run afterwards, so it meant a lot to me,” Beilein said. “… How many times can you go to the semifinal and not get to the championship game? It was a great relief, but a great amount of happiness, too.”