Michigan basketball coach John Beilein underwent a successful, scheduled double-bypass heart surgery Monday in Ann Arbor and won't be able to make the team's upcoming summer trip to Spain.
Beilein, who is expected to leave the hospital in "a few days," hopes to be fully active by the time the Wolverines begin fall practice in October.
Michigan assistant Saddi Washington will serve as the team's interim head coach during Beilein's absence, with assistants Luke Yaklich and DeAndre Haynes continuing their roles on the bench.
"I feel grateful and blessed that this surgery was performed at the University of Michigan," Beilein, 65, said in a statement. "Kathleen, and our family appreciate all of the world-class care that was provided for us. Dr. Kim Eagle, Dr. Francis Pagani, Dr. Stanley Chetcuti and all of their staffs at the Frankel Cardiovascular Center are so talented and performed like champions over this past week.
"I am going to work very hard in my rehabilitation to be stronger than ever by the time practice begins for this upcoming season."
The procedure, officially a "two-vessel coronary bypass graft surgery," was performed by Pagani in Ann Arbor. It is designed to "improve blood flow to the heart, by taking a healthy artery or vein from another part of the body and grafting it to the obstructed coronary artery."
Pagnai said Beilein is expected to make a full recovery and is also expected to "be back to his usual activities within a few weeks."
During the summer of 2015, Beilein underwent what he called a "preventative procedure" that did not cause him to miss any season time. He did not expand on the details of the surgery at the time, though his team was fully aware.
Michigan is scheduled to participate in a foreign trip to Spain from Aug. 17-26 that will feature three exhibition games. The Wolverines have already started practice for the tour, those workouts will now be led by Washington, Yaklich and Haynes.
Beilein, who led Michigan to its second national title game appearance since 2013 in April, spoke with the Detroit Pistons about the franchise's vacant head coaching position over the summer. He removed his name from consideration in June, though he did not formally receive an offer.
He has since maintained he'd like Michigan to be his final coaching stop.
"It became very clear to me where I was meant to finish coaching," Beilein told the Free Press in June "If you followed my career, it was 'you've built this up, you've got it right and you leave the program in better shape than you found it.' And then go and do it again somewhere else.
"I wasn't offered the (Pistons) job. I was a finalist, but I wasn't offered the job. And I decided rather than to go through it more, I knew where I needed to be."
Michigan's all-time wins leader, Beilein signed a rollover contract extension with the school in July that will keep him Ann Arbor through at least 2022-23.
The deal calls for an automatic one-year extension that repeats each year, effectively allowing him to retire from coaching at Michigan when he chooses to. He'll earn $3.8 million per year.
"We are extremely grateful John's proactive procedure was a success and that he is resting comfortably with Kathleen and his family," Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said in a statement. "This university community is remarkably interconnected _ from doctors, to professors, to our coaches. It is truly a place of the Leaders and Best. All of us within the Athletic Department cannot wait for John's return."
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