CHICAGO (AP) Illinois-Chicago hired former Texas and Michigan assistant Luke Yaklich as coach on Thursday.
The 43-year-old Yaklich grew up in Illinois, played at Illinois State and coached high school ball in the state before serving as an assistant at his alma mater from 2013-2017.
He spent two years on John Beilein’s staff at Michigan, overseeing the defense as the Wolverines reached the 2018 NCAA championship game and got to the Sweet 16 in 2019. With Beilein taking the Cleveland Cavaliers job, Yaklich became associate head coach under Shaka Smart at Texas last season.
Yaklich replaces Steve McClain, who was fired two weeks ago after leading UIC to a 76-93 record in five seasons. The Flames won at least 16 games in each of his last four seasons.
UIC has not appeared in the NCAA Tournament since 2004.
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