A former Michigan assistant coach is returning to high school basketball.
After 11 years at the college level, including two at Michigan and four as the head coach at UIC, Luke Yaklich accepted the head boys’ varsity basketball coaching job at Lincoln-Way East in Frankfort, Illinois, a Chicago suburb.
Yaklich, who turns 49 on Thursday, began his coaching career at the high school level in 1999. He spent six seasons as the head coach at Joliet West in Illinois before moving to college. After four seasons as an assistant at Illinois State, his alma mater, then-Michigan coach John Beilein hired him in 2017.
The two connected over their shared history as high school coaches and history teachers. Beilein wanted to improve his program’s defense; Yaklich became Michigan’s de facto defensive coordinator. The results were immediate and impressive.
In Yaklich’s first season on staff, Michigan finished ranked No. 3 in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency per kenpom.com. The Wolverines had finished 69th in that metric the year prior and never better than 37th under Beilein to that point. Michigan went 33-8, winning the Big Ten Tournament and reaching the NCAA championship game before losing to Villanova.
Michigan’s defense was the second best in the country the next year. Michigan earned a 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and made the Sweet 16.
Beilein left for the NBA shortly after, and Yaklich joined the Texas staff. He spent one season there before getting his first college head-coaching job at UIC (University of Illinois Chicago). The Flames had not made the NCAA Tournament since 2004 and Yaklich’s teams never came close to ending the drought.
He went 47-70 over four seasons, with a 23-52 mark in conference play divided between the Horizon League and Missouri Valley Conference. He was fired in March of 2024 and did not coach last season.
Yaklich, a La Salle, Illinois, native, reportedly never ruled out a return to high school hoops.
“People would ask me when I was at the college level, ‘Would you ever go back to high school?’” Yaklich told The Chicago Tribune last week. “And I’d say all the time, ‘I’m just a high school coach that gets to coach college basketball.’ That’s who I am. I’m excited about (this new job).”
At Lincoln-Way East, Yaklich replaces Rich Kolimas, the program’s only coach in history. He held the job for the last 24 seasons before retiring.
Yaklich told the Tribune that working for Beilein “solidified” his love for high school basketball because Beilein preached fundamentals and player development over multiple years.
“I’m jacked up,” Yaklich said about his new gig. “Illinois is home. I love Illinois high school basketball and southwest suburbs basketball. I had an amazing experience in Joliet. I’ve always recruited Illinois as a college coach. These are my roots.”
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