Former Lick player Groce to be named Illini coach

tweeterhawk

tweeterhawk

Well-Known Member
Illinois set to introduce John Groce as new basketball coach

Tom Dienhart of BTN tweets Groce played for Lick at Danville, Ind., High School.

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MisterLucky said:
I hope he has the same level of success at Illinois that we experienced here with Lickliter.
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This X1000. I enjoy seeing Illinois lose, especially in basketball, more than any other team. For them to experience a Lickliter type era would be nothing short of spectacular IMO.
 
He has a gorgeous voice:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9hYpM0o7x8]Jim Croce - I Got A Name (Original Studio Version) - YouTube[/ame]
 
Watching the presser right now on Comcast Sportsnet.

AD Thomas confirmed Groce got a 5 yr deal at 1.4 million/yr.
Rumor was that Groce was seeking an 8 yr deal at 1.375 million.
No word on key assistant Jerrance Howard's status...Groce indicated he would talk to him,but would be bringing some Ohio assistants along with him.

I think he could be a good hire...high energy guy who probably will be an intense recruiter.
 
Groce was an assistant for Thad Moda (sp?) at Ohio St. before going to Ohio U. From the way Ohio U played I think he learned a lot from TM and did not pick up Lick's style. Around both of these programs he is known as a strong recuriter. Without being able to get a splash name coach this is probably a good hire for them. Don't like to say that but we will see.
 
WVHawk said:
Groce was an assistant for Thad Moda (sp?) at Ohio St. before going to Ohio U. From the way Ohio U played I think he learned a lot from TM and did not pick up Lick's style. Around both of these programs he is known as a strong recuriter. Without being able to get a splash name coach this is probably a good hire for them. Don't like to say that but we will see.
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Will be interesting to see whether he can crack the Chicago AAU organization. And if he can, what he did to do it.
 
WVHawk said:
Groce was an assistant for Thad Moda (sp?) at Ohio St. before going to Ohio U. From the way Ohio U played I think he learned a lot from TM and did not pick up Lick's style. Around both of these programs he is known as a strong recuriter. Without being able to get a splash name coach this is probably a good hire for them. Don't like to say that but we will see.
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I'm an Illinois fan and this is an awful hire. If they were going to fire Bruce Weber, and it is no doubt that Mike Thomas decided he was going to do it in December, they should have found a guy better than the one they fired.

Groce is small potatoes. There is a reason why so many hot shot "lead recruiters" in big programs never become big program coaches. Illinois didn't need a recruiter, nor did they need a guy who could recruit Chicago. Bruce Weber was doing that just fine. They needed a guy who could coach up the talent available to get them to compete for Big 10 titles.

So what do they do? Hire a guy who, in his 4th year at Ohio (in a situation where all of the players are "his guys"), finishes in 3rd place in a one bid conference.
 
OatesStache said:
I'm an Illinois fan and this is an awful hire. If they were going to fire Bruce Weber, and it is no doubt that Mike Thomas decided he was going to do it in December, they should have found a guy better than the one they fired.

Groce is small potatoes. There is a reason why so many hot shot "lead recruiters" in big programs never become big program coaches. Illinois didn't need a recruiter, nor did they need a guy who could recruit Chicago. Bruce Weber was doing that just fine. They needed a guy who could coach up the talent available to get them to compete for Big 10 titles.

So what do they do? Hire a guy who, in his 4th year at Ohio (in a situation where all of the players are "his guys"), finishes in 3rd place in a one bid conference.
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Im an Illini fan as well and wouldn't call it an awful hire. Its meh at best, we will see how it works out. Time will tell.
 
This guy was Matta's top assistant at Xavier and OSU before he left for Ohio U. The word on him is that he is very engaging and wins every P.R. opportunity. Very popular with his players.
Interesting that he played high school ball for Lickliter. But, you wouldn't know it by the style of ball he likes to play. Guard oriented, third in the nation in steals, really get up and down the floor. A lot like the other guy they tried to hire, Smart.
This is the kind of guy I wanted Iowa to hire. Younger guy with a ton of energy and intensity. Caff is doing just fine........don't take that the wrong way.......I just thought when this guy took over at Ohio that he would be one of the rising stars in coaching. Expect Illinois recruiting in a couple of years to take a step up.
 
...and Kansas State just hired Bruce Weber. I guess the new "Texas Confrence" will be tougher than the current Big 12 Confrence, haha lol.
 
Doublewide said:
Im an Illini fan as well and wouldn't call it an awful hire. Its meh at best, we will see how it works out. Time will tell.
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This is a good hire for many reasons, he brings a style of ball to Illinois that is needed. I don't think he will lose his team every year like Weber did. Don't be disappointed with his first couple of recruiting classes either, unless he can hit a homerun.
Also, it isn't like this guy was a mid-major guy his whole career, he has been exposed to the A-10, which could be considered a power conference in most years and he was at OSU, so he has had that exposure to high profile conferences.
Groce is a guy that seemed to want to get out of the shadow and not just sit and wait for a major conference job as an OSU assistant. Don't fault a guy for getting to the NCAA tourney and winning.
The fanbase in Illinois wants a coach that is the anti-Weber and they got it. The thing about Weber that amazed me is how he got the players he did and yet they never played together. Either he can't coach a team as a team, or he got to many kids out of Chicago thinking they were a little better than they really were and couldn't get out of their own way.
Doesn't matter at this point, but the Illini faithful will not be disappointed much as the Iowa faitful haven't been with Fran.
 
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