He essentially was a reference interview for Groce, I'm assuming, right?

There's no way Brad Stevens was leaving Butler for Illinois.

But the Chi Trib says there's a lot of turmoil at Illinois that makes it not attractive:

'After Smart declined, Thomas targeted other minority candidates before regrouping and focusing on Stevens, sources said Illinois made runs at Alabama's Anthony Grant and Florida State's Leonard Hamilton, according to a source, but struck out on both who had reservations about the uncertainty of administrative leadership after President Michael Hogan recently resigned amid scandal."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/chi-sources-...

The backing of the hierarchy of the administration seems very important to Groce, so why would he jump into the hornets nest at Illinois.

I love your optimism. I wish I shared it.

groce won't leave walter, d.j. and jon smith !!

he's a good person .... and loyal to these men !! .... maybe after next season .. ?

+1

Same here.  Adding a 0 at the end of one's salary plus getting the opportunity to coach at a B1G school would  be tough to turn down.

I don't disagree that there's some turmoil but this isn't an apples to apples comparison. 

Stevens and Smart make over 1 million right now at their current schools. They're in rather comfortable positions to say no. 

Groce is at what? 250-300K? Even with the NCAA / MAC bonuses. Illinois can and likely will pay him 4 times that (if they really want him). I just don't know how someone would turn that kind of money down. 

Certainly couldn't blame him for taking the job if that's what his decision turns out to be. The difference in money would be too big, even if it's not an ideal situation.

the $20million over 8 years question is- if Groce stays next year and we flame out will he be able to get an offer as good as, or better than, this one?

I don't think Illinois is a great job right now either. If you're in it for the money, sure go for it, if not I wouldn't take the job. 

As long as Izzo, Crean, and Matta are around Illinois will be competing with Wisconsin, Michigan, and Purdue for 4th banana in the Big Ten. That's a tough conference right now. 

I dunnno

Shaka is still getting run a year later. Most schools know that he can coach and his name will still come up in a year. Groce is in a similar situation by beating Georgetown and following it with a Sweet 16 run.

THere are those here who maintained through out this season that he rode a single player on a hot streak but had done nothing to prove he could coach. I think we have answered those questions and the rest of the world is proving that those assertions were not well founded. He can coach and his system works. Will work even better in a situation where when he swings for the fences he has a pretty good chance of hitting that home run with a prize recruit.....

If he stays and finishes out what he has started he will be inthe same boat Shaka is.....even if this team underperforms the lustre will not come off as I am sure his feiry ways will not change much.... he is gonna keep his system in place and his players.....and now his reptuation. He needs to ride it out and get the pay day and the dream job....in a place like OHIO  that he can sell recruits and their families..and enjoy raising his own family.

The biggest difference between Groce and guys like Stevens / Smart is that they reside at schools who seem to have much larger basketball budgets. Not only much larger budgets but a much higher level of overall athletics support from the university as a whole. 

Money could probably keep Groce here but Ohio lacks the funds (today) and the overall support to generate them (tomorrow). At least in the capacity that's needed. That just seems to be the unfortunate reality.

You can argue that this sweet 16 run should help but we're not talking about $5,000-$10,000 here. To retain a coach that is as hot as Groce, if Illinois wants him, it would take doubling his salary to even enter the discussion (and in the end, that might not even be enough).

It's not just the additional 300K this year to get him to come back, it's 300-400K a year for 4-5 years as well.  The AD is looking at 2 million plus incentives, over the course of 4-5 years, just to keep him around. Not sure how it is economically feasible without a private party providing a rather large sum of money via a donation.  

I know Ohio stands to receive a nice financial return from NCAA win shares but I don't know how realistic it is to expect the school to funnel ALL of that money in to only the Men's Basketball program. I personally would be all for it but the athletic department has other bills to pay. They may not be able to justify spending all the NCAA win shares on a single athletic team. The BBall team certainly earned it but at a smaller school, the overall economics play a much larger role in allocating money. 

With all that said, hopefully someone on the board can win Mega Millions tonight. That would solve the problem.