John Beilein’s time as an NBA coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers has come to an end.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Beilein and the Cleveland Cavaliers have reached a settlement that would allow the coach and the organization to part ways prior to the end of the 2020 season. He is saying goodbye to his players upon return from the All-Star break on Wednesday.

Beilein was just 54 games into a five-year contract he signed after leaving Michigan a year ago. Already, the ever popular former Wolverines coach has a spot with the university’s athletic department — at least in the heart’s of fans.

Michigan hitting its stride at the right time

March is right around the corner, and as the NCAA Tournament approaches, things are continuing to look up for the Michigan Wolverines men’s basketball team.

The latest CBS Sports Bracketology report — put out Monday — has Michigan inching its way upward. The Wolverines sit at No. 6 in the bracket released Monday.

The report comes after Michigan — which had gotten off to a terrific start on the season before struggling for nearly all of January, only to rebound in February — won five of its last six games and was recognized as a talented team by Indiana coach Archie Miller following the two teams weekend matchup.

“They’re a very, very good team especially now with Isaiah Livers (back from injury),” Miller told reporters following the Hoosiers’ 89-65 loss to the Wolverines. “They’re one of the best teams in the country, very difficult to guard the way they shoot it, the way they spread you out.”

Michigan, which possesses a 16-9 record and 7-7 in Big-10 play, remains unranked the Associated Press Top-25 poll. The road to a tournament birth and run continues tonight, as the Wolverines travel to Rutgers to play the 18-8 Scarlet Knights.

Wolverines grab early-season No. 1 ranking

Michigan baseball is ranked No. 1 for the firs time. But by talking to those within the program, you wouldn’t know it.

Coach Erik Bakich recently told Angelique Chengelis of the Detroit Free Press that it’s too early in the season for the Wolverines to hang their hat on their record.

“It’s February, so I’m sure we’ll use it in recruiting,” Bakich said. “I know our guys will draw some confidence from it, but they also have been trained to not let their mentality ebb and flow with what people write about them or say about them, so hopefully it will be short-lived and they’ll be able to get back to the middle.

“I don’t know if a Big Ten team has had that type of recognition, so it’s good for a lot of reasons, but (it’s) not going to have any impact on the outcome of future games, that’s for sure. It seems high. Unexpected for sure, appreciated at the same time.”

Despite Bakich’s modesty, the Wolverines really have had an impressive start to the 2020 campaign. Michigan kicked the year off with a solid win over last year’s champion, the Vanderbilt Commodores. It followed that up with a win over Cal Poly and then a shutout victory over No. 9 Arizona State.

Michigan grabbed its first loss of the season against UConn on Sunday, and will match up with the Huskies once again Friday. The baseball squad will continue to try and match what Michigan softball has been able to do up to this point.

Baseball key to four-star DT recruit

When it comes to recruiting four-star defensive tackle Tywone Malone, Michigan’s baseball team could be the key.

According to Chris Peterson of FanSided, the stud recruit is interested in playing both sports. Here is what Peterson had to say of Michigan and the two-sport star:

Michigan football offered Malone over a year ago and he has continued to be a top target for them and it’s obvious because few schools would allow an elite recruit to play two sports but when you are up against schools such as Alabama, Arizona State, Florida Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State and USC, it makes sense to try and get an edge anyway possible.

It certainly helped with Moten, who committed around the same time that Michigan baseball was making its run to the College World Series. So maybe it will help that the Wolverines baseball team is currently ranked No. 1 after a big weekend that saw them beat Arizona State and Vanderbilt, in what was a rematch of the finals in the last year’s CWS.

Other Brews

• The sports world held its breath Monday after Ryan Newman was involved in a horrific crash at the Daytona 500. ESPN now reports that Newman is awake and talking after initially being listed in critical condition following the crash.
• The NCAA is considering a transfer policy that could allow for players in good academic standing and not facing punishment from the original team to play right away.
• Mark Dantonio is no longer the coach at Michigan State, but he remains at the forefront of investigations into alleged NCAA violations from his time as coach. New information filed Tuesday continues to suggest Dantonio committed and was aware of NCAA violations while recruiting.