Well said.  A nice thing about this board is it is almost exclusively made up of people that attended Ohio.  We don't generally get the riff-raff that big programs boards do.    We also tend to be a little older crowd than most boards. 

Not many people pay attention to programs on our level so a lot of people on your board are making judgements based solely on wins and losses and are judging the man because you don't know the man.  We know the man.  His record on paper isn't that much better than his predecessor but one man was loathed while the other is almost universally loved.  Both had bigger ambitions when they showed up but with John Groce you can't tell that is the case.  He threw all of himself into the community.  He threw himself into the program.  His energy is infectious.  His demeanor is always positive. 

He also took over a program that didn't even remotely fit his style of play.  We had little depth and were front court heavy and back court thin.  Groce's system is all about the guards especially the PG.  It's also about depth.  This is the first year where we were able to play more than 7 deep and for most of the year we played 10 deep.  It is no coincidence that the first year we played with all his own players that we blew away the school record for wins in a season.  His recruiting philosophy is pretty simple. Recruit champions.  Take a look at our roster and see how many of our players won a state championship in high school. He doesn't just want good basketball players. He wants winners and people that know what it takes to win. And when he leaves he's going to hand our next coach a ready made roster just like Shaka Smart inherited. 

From the same movie, they expect loyalty and being a "Team Player" in Chicago!  Talk abouit an expensive contract buyout if you dump your team for another: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-sV-O2-jCY

Dan roan (WGN tv sports dude) reports via twitter that if deal is not done by tomorrow, everyone will go their separate ways.

Illinois is so dumb for letting their negotiations with Smart become public. Every coach now knows what's in their bank.

On the flip side, an Illini poster also mentioned that the AD also knows what salary JG would be going back to.  Futhermore, the AD knows that JG is one Akron make away from the NIT and nowhere in this discussion and no guarantee he'll get such an offer next year.

I guess we'll see who "Flinches" first.  AD can't afford to have another pie in the face.  JG probably doesn't want to haggle over a few hundred thousand and consequently leave a million bucks on the table either. 

In the end JG wife probably plays him this tune and the deal is done by tomorrow:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK57LJdg4MU

Chicken and Gangsta, you both could be right on in your analysis, but let me suggest there may be something entirely different going on.  That is perhaps Coach Groce might be weighing the Illinois $$$ versus what he has in Athens and what could develop in Athens if he were to stay.  He may be consulting his wife and children, who by all reports love Athens.  He might even be taking a day or so to pray about this decision with his family.  From what I've heard this would not be out of character for the man. 

Not really positive news here, but who knows at this point!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/ct-spt-0329-illinois-basketball--20120329,0,7926313.story

Some reports today would suggest that he hasn't even gotten a final counter offer from OHIO yet, or he just got it today.

Sounds as if this gets done tomorrow and another mega-thread gets started!

Mike:

1.  First of all, where did that data come from?

2.  Those two offers are too close to let the deal die if they both want to make it happen.  7 year deal for $1.3 and they're there.  That's peanuts for Illinois.

3.  Had kind of envisioned JG was being a shrewed negotiator, but that ain't shrewed.  I thought the lowball figure would be $1.5 and he would be shooting for $2.0, but probably settling for around $1.6-$1.7.  I could see where that could tick a guy off if the last guy was offered over $2.0 and they're telling you $1.2.  Still, that's light years away from OHIO's $500,000.

So if that article is to be believed, it appears that Groce is coming to Illinois. 

I would be much more comfortable with a 4  year contract. 8? That's way too long.

Ugh. UNC just went up 5 in overtime.....

IMO this is more about the years, not the yearly salary.  The longer the term of the contract, the more money Groce is owed should things go south early (given the the reaction of many in Illini Nation to Groce, that is highly probable).

Of course, all this assumes the reporting is at all accurate.  Given the events of the last couple of days, I am not taking anything a Trustee says at face value.