Published: October 04, 2008 10:10 pm      

BASKETBALL: Mentored by the Nilands, Beileins grow coaching tree

At first glance, he looks like a Michigan man. Navy blue Nike polo. Gold accents. A capital ‘M’ on his chest.

But Bill Beilein’s modified Maize in Blue outfit isn’t an homage to his uncle, John Beilein. It’s the uniform for his new job at Medaille College, where he hopes to help Mike MacDonald build the Mavericks into a Division III powerhouse.

After spending the last five years developing the Harbor Hoops AAU program in Niagara County, and two seasons working as the JV coach at Lewiston-Porter High School, Bill Beilein, 30, now hopes to further his family’s legacy in college basketball.

That tradition goes beyond John Beilein, the Burt native who wound up with the Wolverines after successful stints at several schools, notably West Virginia and Canisius.

Growing up, John was mentored by what he calls “the first family of coaching in Buffalo,” uncles Joe, Tom and Mike Niland.

Joe Niland, a 1937 Tonawanda graduate, was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame seven years ago for his coaching accomplishments at Canisius in the 1950s, as well as his later scouting work for the Buffalo Braves. Tom Niland coached at LeMoyne from 1947 until 1972, then spent 20 years as athletics director. Mike Niland coached at the high school level, first at Bishop Duffy, then in Barker.

One of Bill’s first coaching jobs was in Mobile, Ala., where Joe Niland Jr. has been the head coach for more than a decade. Dave Niland is entering his 14th season coaching at Penn State-Behrend.

“Between the Beileins and the Nilands,” Bill says, “There’s something in our blood that boils whenever we get near a basketball court.”

Bill first noticed that feeling when his father, former Niagara County Sheriff Tom Beilein, took him to see John coach at LeMoyne. It intensified while attending summer basketball camps at Canisius.

By the time Bill went off to play at Oswego State in 1997, he was planning to pursue coaching. Playing for one of John’s former Canisius assistants, Kevin Broderick, Bill made 117 steals, which ranks sixth on Oswego’s all-time list. He also ranks 13th in career rebounds with 523 — a tall feat considering he’s barely 5-foot-11.

Over the last five years, Bill’s personal life developed more than his coaching career. He married the former Natalie Macklinger, a standout basketball player at Newfane in the early ’90s, and they have three children: Will, 5, Bobby, 3, and Brooke, 1.

He’s also developed a bond with Joe Alexander, proprietor of Smokin’ Joe’s, which led to a managerial position at the Roadway Inn on Main Street in Niagara Falls.

Bill says support from Alexander, Harbor Hoops partner Wally Moxham, as well as his father, have allowed him to stay involved in basketball while making a living in the absence of high-paying local coaching jobs.

Last fall, Bill went out to Michigan to observe his uncle’s first seven practices with the Wolverines.

“Staying with him, breaking down film with him, getting notes from him, seeing the ways he develops players through positive interactions — it was an amazing experience,” Bill says. “And he told me to keep following my passion.”

After being passed over for the varsity job at Niagara Catholic, Bill returned to Michigan last summer to work his uncle’s camp. It was there that he was offered a job by MacDonald, who inherited the Golden Griffins from John in 1997 after nine years as an assistant.

“The fact that (MacDonald) is bringing 18 years of Division I experience into the program makes this a great opportunity,” Bill says. “And my uncle John always told me that if I wanted to be a college (head) coach, I needed to start working at the college level.”

“He’s got that same coaching jones,” John says. “I’m very proud of him. He’s done a great job working our (youth) camps (at Canisius and Michigan) and I have no question that whoever he gets to coach is a very lucky young man.”

Less than two weeks before practices begin, Bill says he’s feeding his addiction to watching tape of Beilein-coached teams. “It’s an obsession, especially during down times like now, when I’m forced to watch baseball.”

Occasionally, the DVR machine will erase one of Bill’s archived Michigan games, which he says causes him to scream. But surely, Bill could ask his uncle to send him some game film.

“My uncle has been an open book,” Bill says. “The stuff he learned from the great Niland family, he’s passed my way.”