John Groce blipped my radar in 2006, when Rivals named him the best recruiter in college basketball. Since that time, I’ve kept tabs on his movements. I’m completely non-surprised that Mike Thomas chose him to succeed Bruce Weber.
Is it good?
I recall my reaction to Lon Kruger’s hiring. It seemed anti-climactic given the preceding build-up. Rumors in 1996, you’ll recall, were even more outrageous than they are in 2012. Say what you will about the misinformation of social media; when Twitter lies, it’s refuted just as speedily. When Lou Henson got his Golden Pushout, Champaign-Urbana’s collective coffee klatch determined that Mike Krzyzewski was looking at property in Mahomet. He’d be moving home to Illinois, to finish his career here.
When the announcement came, people joked that yes, we got coach K, just not the one you’d hoped for.
In hindsight, it’s easy for me to say that Lon Kruger was the best Illini coach in my lifetime. I enjoyed watching his team’s play. He recruited great talent (despite reports to the contrary) and they won. Bill Self, frankly, underachieved with Kruger’s recruits. And I hated watching his offense.
The great news about John Groce is Bill Self’s Bruce Weber teams (sic). Groce was Thad Matta’s Billy Gillispie. Billy Gillispie is the guy who made Bruce Weber a millionaire. If we got our Billy Gillispie, and he’s addicted to strong coffee rather than booze, this could be good.
I served Billy Gillispie a lot of alcohol in my bartending days. John Groce is more of a Jesus person, less of a rowdy. I’m not a Jesus person. I like the booze. But if the goal is to win national championships at Illinois, maybe it’s better to believe in the improbable.
The year 2012 marks my fourth Illini basketball regime change. I didn’t hope for anybody this time. It felt almost inevitable that John Groce would be hired.
Mid-major: check
Ohio: check
Middling record: check
Apprenticed with the unquestioned supreme lord of the relevant sport/current Ohio State coach: check
I don’t really know what else to say about the Groce hire. I spent most of this afternoon’s introductory press conference talking to Jeni Thomas about religion. Kent Brown and Derrick Burson ran Groce through a gauntlet of media obligations. I lurked, observing. At one point, Kent asked Groce if he’d had a meal in recent history, and Groce said he’d need to eat something soon. It was all very real, human.
I asked Derrick about these last few weeks, the rumors, the onslaught of erroneous social media. He brushed it off. No big deal. New challenges, new opportunities.
John Groce brushed me off, too. “Will his practices be open to the media?” I asked.
Nah.
That’s dangerous: Ron Zook proved what a spurned media can do to a coach. But the attitude fit neatly with the overall message coming from the AD, the SID, and the new coach. We’re confident. Thanks for asking the questions, but we feel we have the answers.
Before the cameras started rolling, Tyler Griffey said a couple of guys might leave. I think that’s okay. I’m of the opinion that people should have control over their own lives. Freedom of choice. On a personal level, it’s difficult to say goodbye to staffers and players.
Or it’s easy. It just depends on whether they were cool guys or assholes.
I like most of the players, and a lot of the Weber Administration staff. But the hard truth is that they lost a lot. So it’s probably best to make a clean sweep. I’d also be happy to see John Groce give a vote of confidence to any of them, by way of retention.
So I’m learning, see? In sports “journalism” it’s best to play both sides of the fence. You get more hits.