Beilein Third Former MAAC Coach To Reach No. 1

MAAC-related trivia.

The Michigan men's basketball team recently spent a week as the nation's top-ranked team before it suffered a loss Saturday at Indiana.

But, the Wolverine's No. 1 rating was rare time at the top for a program directed by a former MAAC men's coach.

In this case it's John Beilein, now in his sixth season in Ann Arbor, Mich. Beilein was in Buffalo directing the Canisius program for five seasons (1992-93 through 1996-97).

There have been two other former MAAC men's coaches who later took other programs to the top of the college basketball ratings, both from the same MAAC program and both at the same No. 1 program.

Those were Dino Gaudio, whose 2008-09 team at Wake Forest got off to a 16-0 start and spent a week at the No. 1 spot; and, the late Skip Prosser, who also had the Demon Deacons atop the national polls early in the 2003-04 season.

Both Gaudio and Prosser spent pre-Wake Forest years as the head coach at Loyola.