A new era at WVU began on April 18, 2002, as the Mountaineers introduced John Beilein as their 20th head basketball coach. A proven winner throughout his career, Beilein has won 502 career games and ranks among the Top 30 victories among active Division I head coaches. The 2005-06 season marks Beilein's 28th year as a collegiate coach. He has a career record of 502-298 (.628), compiled winning records in 24 of the 27 years, including 11 of the past 12, and has made eight post-season appearances in his 13 years at the helm of a Division I basketball team.
Beilein has crafted his trade at virtually every level - community college, NAIA, Division II, and now entering his 14th year as a Division I coach. What sets him apart from his peers is that at every stop, he's always been a head coach, not an assistant.
He has moved into 96th place among the NCAA's all-time winningest coaches (four-year schools only).
This past year, Beilein led the Mountaineers to wins over a school-record eight ranked teams (Texas Tech, Wake Forest, Boston College, Villanova, Pitt twice, N.C. State, and George Washington) and an AP Top 25 ranking. Beilein has already won more games against nationally-ranked teams in a shorter time than any other coach in school history. West Virginia finished the 2004-05 post-season ranked 12th in the USA Today/ESPN poll.
Beilein played college basketball at Wheeling College (now Wheeling Jesuit University) from 1971-75 and served as team captain his junior season. He received a bachelor's degree in history from there in 1975 and earned a master's degree in education from Niagara in 1981. Beilein began his coaching career at Newfane Central High in Newfane, N.Y., for three years before heading to Erie Community College.
A native of Burt, N.Y., he and his wife, Kathleen, have been married for 26 years. They have one daughter Seana (24), an elementary school teacher in Richmond, Va., and three sons, Patrick (21), a member of the Mountaineer team, Mark (20), who attends the University of Dayton, and Andrew (14), a 10th grade student at University High School.
