Do you think there might be some kind of backlash so to speak? Personally I understand Groce looking at options, but with the +300 response thread and everyone being in panic, frustration, confusion, etc on this board  do you think it will be life back to normal for bobcat nation or will there be some lingering hard feelings? A lot of students were buzzing about it today on campus also as well as the emotional roller coaster I'm sure the players have gone through I wouldn't want any possible hard feelings going on with our hopeful out look for next season. I know this is probably putting the cart way before the horse, but with the turmoil going on at Illinois I thought this could become an interesting conversation.

+1

There shouldn't be any hard feelings at all. 99% of mid-major coaches aspire to get to the "next level." There are very few mid-major coaches who stay at their school for 10 or 15 years or more. He is probably going to leave at some point. I don't see why anybody should hold it against him for exploring all opportunities. I don't think any of us would not look into an opportunity that would more than double our salary, move us upward in our profession, give us more prestige, and provide us with a better place to live.

Of course other coaches will use it against him when recruiting.

In my book he's welcome here as long as he wants the job. I don't think that this exactly took the current team by surprise. Heck, Walt even addressed it in an interview during the NCAA tournament. They're smart guys, and they hear the kind of money being talked about, they understand that he HAS to explore his options. Whether he's been doing so with an eye toward leaving now, to get his name out there in case he wants to make a move after his first class graduates, or to use Illinois's offer to leverage a better offer out of our department, these guys seem to know that its part of the business. As for recruits: yea, this will be used against him. But the same line of attack was going to be used against him even had he taken the Chris Peterson approach and preemptively declared himself a non-candidate for every job in the country. Remember how upset we got when Dambrot said after the MACC that JG would be gone next year? I'm sure he was saying it to recruits as well. Like others have said, part of the business.

In the near-long term, I can think of nothing better than JG staying to coach these returning players. Sure, it'd be easier to hire a new coach with 4 returning seniors off of a 29-7 sweet16 team, but think about the sort of season we could, COULD have if the scenario described in the thread's subject plays out: lock in strong STRONG student support from this years underclassmen and and next years freshmen, record setting attendance (or attendance back to the peaks we were seeing before my time) boost national reputation, alumni support, etc.

If JG decides to leave, I'll be sad but wish him the best, and continue to (silently) root for his teams. I can't blame him for taking the kind of money that is being talked about, and he's built a stong base for the program to build on. But I'm hoping he stays, for 1 year or for a long time.

That's an easy enough issue to get around.  "I was offered $2M a year to coach at a Big Ten school and I turned it down. I'm here for the long haul and more importantly I'm here for you!"

Your gut feelings are usually spot on. Hope it holds true here.