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Topic: A quick thought on Groce/Illinois...
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Gangsta Pete
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Posted: 3/27/2012 11:55 PM
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OhioStunter wrote:expand_more
I'm really pulling for page 20 of this thread by tomorrow afternoon.


Only 3 pages to go...
OUVan
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Posted: 3/27/2012 11:57 PM
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Illinoisfan wrote:expand_more
Oh sorry, didn't see it. 

Well lets pray that it's not necessary.


If you are an Illinois fan you should be praying that it is necessary. 
perimeterpost
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Posted: 3/28/2012 12:12 AM
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The Optimist wrote:expand_more
I'm amazed how clueless the Illinois fanbase is on Groce.  He recruited huge stars to OSU and has won tourny games over and over with great X's and O's...  We already know he can recruit Chicago...  This is a perfect fit.  He would win National Titles at Illinois as long as the AD/Fans/Board didn't get in his way (didn't realize how big of an 'if'' this was).

Edit:
I hope this falls through so Illinois fans can kick themselves in 5 years.


yeah, but Groce only finished 3rd in a piece of crap conference like the MAC, how could he possibly beat a real team from a real conference like the Big10? Like seriously, imagine if he put that crap team of crap recruits from that crap conference against a real team like Michigan that actually finished 1st in a real conference. I guarantee it would be literally impossible for that crap coach to win. I'll bet my house on it.

and the last thing we need is another coach from the MAC. I am so mad that we hired Beckman from the MAC. how embarrassing. Do you think schools like Ohio State or Michigan or even Minnesota would hire a coach that had been in the MAC? there's no way.

when I see them arguing against Groce because he finished 3rd in MAC play while ignoring the sweet 16 run, the conf tourney championship, the best overall record, the best non conf record, etc. and then turn around and suggest a person that has literally never coached before but "bleeds orange and blue" I can't help but laugh.
OUVan
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Posted: 3/28/2012 12:18 AM
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perimeterpost wrote:expand_more
when I see them arguing against Groce because he finished 3rd in MAC play while ignoring the sweet 16 run, the conf tourney championship, the best overall record, the best non conf record, etc. and then turn around and suggest a person that has literally never coached before but "bleeds orange and blue" I can't help but laugh.


And did you realize that we had "zero basketball tradition"?
bornacatfan
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Posted: 3/28/2012 12:21 AM
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perimeterpost wrote:expand_more
yeah, but Groce only finished 3rd in a piece of crap conference like the MAC, how could he possibly beat a real team from a real conference like the Big10? Like seriously, imagine if he put that crap team of crap recruits from that crap conference against a real team like Michigan that actually finished 1st in a real conference. I guarantee it would be literally impossible for that crap coach to win. I'll bet my house on it.

and the last thing we need is another coach from the MAC. I am so mad that we hired Beckman from the MAC. how embarrassing. Do you think schools like Ohio State or Michigan or even Minnesota would hire a coach that had been in the MAC? there's no way.

when I see them arguing against Groce because he finished 3rd in MAC play while ignoring the sweet 16 run, the conf tourney championship, the best overall record, the best non conf record, etc. and then turn around and suggest a person that has literally never coached before but "bleeds orange and blue" I can't help but laugh.


THat is classic. I love it. THe research they have done in 500 plus pages would have been done in 2 by the astute members of this board.

On the subject of his qualifications.....I still do not think Thad is a great in game coach. My personal opinion but what I do think is that he has surrounded himself with really talented guys and let them do their thing while valuing their input. Groce, Miller, Boals are all really good game planners and feet on the ground guys.....Thad relies on these guys and Groce, truth be told did most of the heavy lifting on the recruits like Conley, Oden, Cook, the Butler 2003 team, the X guys and the entire class he put together in a couple of weeks following his hire. Keely was almost a done deal anyway but Ivo, Coop and the rest are on him...... JG is a force and Illi whine I fans are too stupid to be able to look through the chaff to find the kernel of wheat.
The Optimist
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Posted: 3/28/2012 12:27 AM
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OUVan wrote:expand_more
when I see them arguing against Groce because he finished 3rd in MAC play while ignoring the sweet 16 run, the conf tourney championship, the best overall record, the best non conf record, etc. and then turn around and suggest a person that has literally never coached before but "bleeds orange and blue" I can't help but laugh.


And did you realize that we had "zero basketball tradition"?


That game where we had 13,000 couldn't have been the result of tradition!
perimeterpost
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Posted: 3/28/2012 12:31 AM
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OUVan wrote:expand_more
when I see them arguing against Groce because he finished 3rd in MAC play while ignoring the sweet 16 run, the conf tourney championship, the best overall record, the best non conf record, etc. and then turn around and suggest a person that has literally never coached before but "bleeds orange and blue" I can't help but laugh.


And did you realize that we had "zero basketball tradition"?


yeah I saw that too. I guess we forgot to thank Groce for introducing us to varsity basketball. before he got here the Convo was just a dorm with a reeeeeally big lounge.
Brian Smith (No, not that one)
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Posted: 3/28/2012 1:20 AM
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Magic Johnson might swoop in and offer Groce $18 million a year to manage the Dodgers if Illinois doesn't hurry up.
OhioStunter
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Posted: 3/28/2012 1:43 AM
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Brian Smith wrote:expand_more
Magic Johnson might swoop in and offer Groce $18 million a year to manage the Dodgers if Illinois doesn't hurry up.


You know who's already in LA? Woody Harrelson.



Oh, enough with Woody Harrelson already!
Bobcat Grad 86
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Posted: 3/28/2012 6:46 AM
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Coach Groce:  Turn Right and Head back East to your home in Athens!  Illinois keeps dropping the football and basketball in their athletic department.

Illini - Ohio
Illinifan74
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Posted: 3/28/2012 7:36 AM
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The Optimist wrote:expand_more
I'm amazed how clueless the Illinois fanbase is on Groce.  He recruited huge stars to OSU and has won tourny games over and over with great X's and O's...  We already know he can recruit Chicago...  This is a perfect fit.  He would win National Titles at Illinois as long as the AD/Fans/Board didn't get in his way (didn't realize how big of an 'if'' this was).

Edit:
I hope this falls through so Illinois fans can kick themselves in 5 years.


We're not ALL clueless. There are those of us that have been on coach Groce's bandwagon since is was obvious Shaka had no desire to leave VCU. I think he's exactly what the Illinois team needs.

And I agree with another poster...who cares if the next coach "bleeds orange and blue"? I want a coach that has the ability to take a team, coach it up, and  improve it as the season moves on.
74 Cat
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Posted: 3/28/2012 7:36 AM
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Headline calls the hiring of Groce "Imminent" ...

MH55 writes for the Trib?
Chuck_IV
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Posted: 3/28/2012 7:38 AM
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74 Cat wrote:expand_more
Headline calls the hiring of Groce "Imminent" ...

MH55 writes for the Trib?


The headline was like that early yesterday, well before all this other stuff came to light.
Andrew Ruck
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Posted: 3/28/2012 7:45 AM
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Good morning...Looking forward to grocely obsessing again today.  We made it to a story listed on the front page of espn.com.

http://espn.go.com/chicago/ncb/story/_/id/7743933/john-groce-ohio-bobcats-negotiations-take-illinois-fighting-illini-sources-say
bobcat28
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Posted: 3/28/2012 7:51 AM
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How bad does he really want out of athens if he accepts this job? I cant think of a worse situation to walk into. It seems no one wants him there: fans, alumni, trustees, players, high school coaches.
Last Edited: 3/28/2012 7:51:30 AM by bobcat28
Chuck_IV
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Posted: 3/28/2012 7:58 AM
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bobcat28 wrote:expand_more
How bad does he really want out of athens if he accepts this job? I cant think of a worse situation to walk into. It seems no one wants him there: fans, alumni, trustees, players, high school coaches.


I agree. It seems like a bad situation from the start. Along those same lines tho, if he does come back, this isn't going to bode well for any recruiting he will be doing this year.

While I'd love to have him back, at this point, if he does come back, it may bite us in the end, since recruits will think twice about committing to a program where the head coach isn't 100% committed.
Last Edited: 3/28/2012 7:59:01 AM by Chuck_IV
Doc Bobcat
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Posted: 3/28/2012 8:06 AM
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Illinois owes Weber 3.9 mill.....geesh.
Recovering Journalist
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Posted: 3/28/2012 8:17 AM
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Doc Bobcat wrote:expand_more
Illinois owes Weber 3.9 mill.....geesh.


Having a $75 million athletic budget that's in the black takes a lot of sting out of that.
Doc Bobcat
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Posted: 3/28/2012 8:31 AM
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Recovering Journalist wrote:expand_more
Illinois owes Weber 3.9 mill.....geesh.


Having a $75 million athletic budget that's in the black takes a lot of sting out of that.


For sure.
Bobcat110
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Posted: 3/28/2012 8:45 AM
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WGN Poll: Is Groce hire a good move?  Currently, 55% say "no".

http://www.wgntv.com/sports/ct-spt-groce-poll-0327,0,6369...


Chicago Public League coaches questioning if Groce has a chance at next two recruiting classes out of Chicago area:

Quote:expand_more
Public League coaches don't have anything negative to say about John Groce the person or the coach.

They don't know him well enough to have an opinion, which looms as a problem if Groce is hired as Bruce Weber's replacement in Champaign."I don't really know him," said Nick Irvin, the Morgan Park coach whose family owns the influential Mac Irvin Fire AAU club. "Are they going in the right direction with this hire? I don't think so."

"I don't know him," said Terry Head, the Foreman and Illinois Heat coach. "I think that's going to be a problem."

"It is difficult to speak about somebody I don't know," Young and Ferrari coach Tyrone Slaughter said. "It is clearly not the hire we anticipated, so I really don't know.

"The class of 2013 is months away from signing and the 2014s have by and large been involved for a while. It is no fault of his own that a large number of those kids he would not have the opportunity to recruit while he was at Ohio.


http://www.wgntv.com/sports/ct-spt-0328-prep-bkb-public-league-illini-reax-20120327,0,1427914.story


More we deserve better than Groce sentiment:

Quote:expand_more
many Illini fans and boosters are expressing outrage that Thomas couldn’t come up with a more proven coach to succeed Bruce Weber. Many prominent Chicago-area basketball leaders who had never heard of Groce, let alone met him, also are voicing serious concerns.

‘‘All I know is, it’s going to be an absolute firestorm for the guy when he’s hired,’’ a Chicago prep basketball analyst said. ‘‘It could get ugly for him with Chicago people. It’s going to be imperative that he’s careful in putting together a staff.’’-



http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/11567161-419/fans...

 

Last Edited: 3/28/2012 8:47:38 AM by Bobcat110
OU_Country
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Posted: 3/28/2012 8:51 AM
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Chuck_IV wrote:expand_more
How bad does he really want out of athens if he accepts this job? I cant think of a worse situation to walk into. It seems no one wants him there: fans, alumni, trustees, players, high school coaches.


I agree. It seems like a bad situation from the start. Along those same lines tho, if he does come back, this isn't going to bode well for any recruiting he will be doing this year.

While I'd love to have him back, at this point, if he does come back, it may bite us in the end, since recruits will think twice about committing to a program where the head coach isn't 100% committed.


I hadn't considered this.  Definitely something to have concerns about.  If he should stay, and get that big pay increase I read about on Twitter, there certainly needs to be a sizable buyout to protect OUr program's future.
athena
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Posted: 3/28/2012 8:54 AM
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Good morning, Groce-watchers!

Illinifan74 wrote:expand_more
First off, I took what one of your posters said earlier today the wrong way. I thought I was be asked to leave.


Glad you came back ... I felt bad about the way you took my post, no hard feelings, okay?


Mike Coleman wrote:expand_more
Does anyone else remember the bouncing heads on the Fire Larry Hunter site? Those were so cutting edge. [theysoknewhtml]


LOL! I remember that. Good times.
Bobcat110
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Posted: 3/28/2012 8:58 AM
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More Commentary:

Quote:expand_more
The University of Illinois has had 16 men’s basketball coaches since it began playing the sport in 1906. All of them, from Elwood Brown to Bruce Weber, had a skin pigmentation that resembled Cream of Wheat.

On Tuesday, the school was preparing to hire its 17th coach, John Groce, who is as white (and shorn) as a cue ball.

Apparently, we live in a state with the racial diversity of Iceland.



Quote:expand_more
If Illinois were about to announce Mike Krzyzewski’s hiring, you’d shrug and say, what’s an athletic director supposed to do? If you can get Coach K to come to Champaign, you get him, even if you previously had vowed you absolutely had to have a black, red or plaid coach.

But this is John Groce, a relatively obscure coach who has done fairly well at mid-major Ohio University.


Quote:expand_more
Some members of Illinois’ Board of Trustees reportedly were upset when Thomas hired a white football coach to replace Ron Zook. They should be doubly upset about Groce’s impending hire, given the basketball program’s higher profile.


Quote:expand_more
You can drive from Chicago down I-57 toward central Illinois and not long after start to feel you’re in a different world. Traffic thins. Cornfields start to whiz by. And it gets whiter. It looks like it’s about to get whiter still.


http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/11566810-419/morr...

 

Mark Lembright '85
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Posted: 3/28/2012 9:01 AM
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At this point I don't think there's any turning back now for Coach Groce as Ohio's concerned; he needs to just say yes to the Illinois job and move on. IF the general tenor of everything we're reading is true (and I know, that's a big IF), it seems clear Groce has made his mind up to leave. Great-he deserves the promotion and the extra money. But there's no way IMHO he can come back to Ohio now. If negotiations hit a snag with Illinois, they fall through and he ends up coming back to Ohio, what's he going to tell potential recruits in this upcoming recruiting season? "Hey kids, I wasn't really going to leave Ohio, it was all just a joke." Every potential recruit will know he was on his way out of here and if they don't the opposing coaches in the MAC will be sure to tell every recruit out there in the coming months Groce was out of here. Groce will have no credibility for potential Ohio recruits I would think.
Last Edited: 3/28/2012 9:05:30 AM by Mark Lembright '85
bornacatfan
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Posted: 3/28/2012 9:09 AM
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Mark Lembright '85 wrote:expand_more
At this point I don't think there's any turning back now for Coach Groce as Ohio's concerned; he needs to just say yes to the Illinois job and move on. IF the general tenor of everything we're reading is true (and I know, that's a big IF), it seems clear Groce has made his mind up to leave. Great-he deserves the promotion and the extra money. But there's no way IMHO he can come back to Ohio now. If negotiations hit a snag with Illinois, they fall through and he ends up coming back to Ohio, what's he going to tell potential recruits in this upcoming recruiting season? "Hey kids, I wasn't really going to leave Ohio, it was all just a joke." Every potential recruit will know he was on his way out of here. He'll have no credibility for potential Ohio recruits I would think.


ALl recruits know they will not be playing for the same coach when they leave....that is why you sign with a school and not a coach.

THat said it is in our best interest to let it be known that we have put a program together that will propgate itself like the Butler/Xavier pregrams we have looked at longingly. I would have no porblems as a recruit if that were the case as the brand is bigger than the coach. WHen Butler lost Lick I talked to Matt Howard and Zach Hahn the first few days after ...they both replied that as long as the assts they dealt with most stayed they were going to stay.....

cruising around lots of boards I find it funny and a bit disconcerting when fanbases do more damage to their recruiting process than the actual situation with the coach.

If this situation and what Coach has created is truly what he envisioned and in place then OHIO> JG
Last Edited: 3/28/2012 9:12:23 AM by bornacatfan
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