Groce is a better coach than Boals by basically every measure that matters.
But that doesn't mean there aren't posters here who are getting a little cranky. Maybe a nap or a snack?
Listen ... I like Groce, BUT!!!
He has changed his recruiting quite a bit since Ohio-Illinois and his early years at Akron. Early on he took a lot of recruiting risks at each school that led to some serious off-court and lockerroom issues. And he survived them.
Now Groce has a $$$-man to help him recruit and a record of success at Akron to not only prop him up, but allows him to redshirt quality recruits to keep the program solid. Then add, Groce CAN coach, and he CAN motivate.
The fact he has not been on the short list for any jobs in the region over the last 5 years is great for Akron. But would he (or Ford) have the same resources and success at Ohio?
Coaching in this new era is tough. Boals has his short-comings but he deserves a litte grace IMO.
Groce lost Nate Johnson and James Okonkwo to the portal. Akron is 5-1 and his top 2 leading scorers this season are 4 year Akron players.
At what point does Groce get credit for just being a superior coach? Javan Simmons is more likely than not a 6-figure portal player as discussed in this article ->
https://www.toledoblade.com/sports/college/2025/04/09/bri... So, we’re not exactly crying poor in the resource department. Boals is just an ok coach.
Places where I think I make good points always get buried into threads and I forget about where they are, so I'll try to adlib myself...
Boals recruiting classes are generally #1-#2 in the MAC. Every year he's been here where he's had at least 2 HS recruits. He's pulling in top talent. On paper. (For some reason the rankings I saw mixed between ON3, and 247 didn't include transfers into rookie classes, so Clayton's year the recruiting class was just him and OU was 7th, the kid from Maryland was a swing and a miss, still a miss for his other teams, that class I believe was 5, because it was technically just Nicol)
With that said... I wonder if we're relying too much on ranking and not on building a team. What is our recruiting budget - the actual recruiting - looking like these days? Is Lee hitting the pavement? Is Lamar in HS gyms watching these guys enough? I feel like we're almost looking at the rankings list and going - can we get this guy? And worrying about fit later. And that has been biting us in the ass.
On paper, we're MACC contenders every season. Largely due to the talent he IS bringing here.
Where we are falling short is development, or the initial recruiting phase. The team isn't gelling. We don't have the right pieces. We don't have the right size to allow some kids to do what they want/need to do.
I love Boals. I don't think that's a secret. But I think he would tell you these teams just have not been cohesive.
We play out of position every year, every game, and not well.
So going back to my original thought - we don't seem to be mining for diamonds in positions and size of need. We're trying to win recruiting rankings battle. Which we generally do. I like the focus on Columbus recruits, and getting some in-state guys here, I just hope some of these start paying dividends before its too late. Cause this day and age, fortunes change fast.
Last Edited: 11/25/2025 8:24:53 AM by M.D.W.S.T