Groce fired
- Thread starter Kelly_32
- Start date
Potentially helps us with m. Smith this year and finke next year... hopefully this strong btt showing helps translates into immediate recruiting gains
This should come to the surprise of absolutely no one. Another good long-term move by their AD, though the short-term consequences will likely be painful.
Got to give their AD credit for at least recognizing what he had wasn't good enough. Lovie is a big time upgrade in football, but not convinced he will lead them to the promised land. They will be better with anyone but Groce coaching BBall but they need to set realistic goals and not expect Bill Self. Right now their programs are less than mediocre and they should strive to have our success ( ready for the we beat NU twice this year) instead of constantly thinking they are some sports juggernaut that swats measly NU away like a fly on their shoulder.
I actually believe that the current AD is not buying into that sports juggernauts nonsense or the competition with us; that was all the prior AD and Administration, which is entirely gone now. I think the Illini are on the right track, even though it is going to mean some LONG seasons in basketball in the short-term. And I probably in the minority, but I think that they could go to a bowl game next year in football given that they have one of the worst noncon scheudles in the country (as they should with rebuilding a program).
He came from a D3 school. From what I have heard he is bright, but that will only get you so far. You look at Phillips (UI Alum), he was at ND, Tennessee, and AD at NIU. That experience is critical to building a solid operation. The Smith hire is yet to be determined as we seem to be doing well against him in football recruiting.
Based on what? His hire of Lovie Smith was popular but I thought from the start it was a poorly thought out decision. Smith will not succeed and Illinois will have to start from scratch in football once again.
Mediocre at best program. Good luck with trying to attract coaching talent to the middle of nowhere.
Exactly - unless it is someone with ties to the school, I don't see a name coach taking this job.
Keep with the trend of taking the Chicago pro teams sloppy seconds to appease the Chicago meat-head fans. He'd actually be a pretty good hire IMO.
I bet Combes has lost little energy. He is a good and reasonable poster but his favorite team isn;t generating any positive interest right now so I wouldn't expect him to have any spill over energy for us.
Do you think Illinois can afford to wait until the end of the NBA season to make a hire? It would have a major impact on this recruiting cycle. I think firing Groce will already impact the current signees, but not having a coach in place by the spring signing period could really impact their ability to put together a class.
Other than that, I actually think Hoiberg would be a steal for Illinois, and probably a benefit for the Bulls as well. All that said, Gar Foreman recently said to Waddle and Silvy that Hoiberg will be the coach in Chicago next season.
Problem for Illini football is that Lovie will not get the best from a typically thin Illinois class of recruits. If short of winning Big that was a possibility this would have been the year. So he will have to go around the Big Ten footprint and beyond to find players. Where he will face the question "Why Illinois." And his answers will be the same as dozens of other State U schools. It's a tough position to be in. He will likely have to bet on developing 2-3 star prospects while filling holes with some select JUCOS. Realistically, that's his only viable chance unless and until he creates a new, appealing identity/brand for Illini football. Lot's of luck with that.
As for Groce ... target Archie Miller and don't take no for an answer. There will be stiff competition for his services. Pray he doesn't make another run in the tourney with Dayton. That will up the competition.
The guy can flat out coach and recruit...with existing connections to the Chicago pipeline he will need to exploit at Illinois....a school that can get a lot better in hoops in a very short time with the right coach.
GOUNUII
Gregg Marshall, Tony Bennett, Cuonzo Martin headline replacements for Illinois Basketball.
It didn’t come as surprise to many when it was announced earlier this weekend that John Groce had been relieved of his duties. Now the question that remains is who AD Josh Whitman has in mind to replace him. Over the past month we’ve previewed thirteen replacement candidates and gone into detail about their pros and cons. Now it’s time to bring all their profiles together and wrap it up to see who should be the next basketball coach at the University of Illinois.
Click-->> MORE
It didn’t come as surprise to many when it was announced earlier this weekend that John Groce had been relieved of his duties. Now the question that remains is who AD Josh Whitman has in mind to replace him. Over the past month we’ve previewed thirteen replacement candidates and gone into detail about their pros and cons. Now it’s time to bring all their profiles together and wrap it up to see who should be the next basketball coach at the University of Illinois.
Click-->> MORE
Nice opinion in response to another opinion that was presented by an Illinois fan with no facts to support it. The evidence supporting my opinion is the actual results to date on the field and in recruiting. Not impressive at all by any standard.
The Orange and Blue article listed 26 potential replacements. Yes, I said 26. Are these guys delusional or what? CC was one of them and this is the snipet . LOL
Chris Collins, Northwestern
He could coach in a real college basketball arena and have access to more talented players as he strives to be the heir apparent to Coach K. It’s doubtful that Jim Delaney would want this and if you lose twice to John Groce do you really deserve it?
Chris Collins, Northwestern
He could coach in a real college basketball arena and have access to more talented players as he strives to be the heir apparent to Coach K. It’s doubtful that Jim Delaney would want this and if you lose twice to John Groce do you really deserve it?
Back in 2012 it was REPORTED that CC was interested in the Illinois job (not particularly surprising given his connection to the state). Of course his situation in 2017 is completely different.
The point about a larger recruiting pool is obviously legit. There may or may not be more salary money there (I think Groce's salary was comparable to CC's though). But their expectations will be higher, since they view themselves as a place that should have a perennial top program (which makes sense for them to think so). They probably think they should have a perennial Sweet-16-type program with the occasional F4-run twice a decade.
Archie miller played at NC State, NC State has a coaching vacancy. For someone without ties to Illinois, I don't see what the draw of Illinois would be over countless other programs, including NC State or even Dayton. For someone with ties to NC State I really don't see what Illinois brings to the table that NC State doesn't.
It seems Valvano was reasonably successful competing against those 2 (even winning the NCAA crown once). I guess that gives them hope someone else can do the same there, if not a bit better.
NC State has UNC and Duke to deal with. Illinois could again be king of the St. Louis and Chicago recruiting scene....with the right coach. Both programs are similar in many ways. But Illinois has a clear path to top 10-15 upward mobility. NC State not so much. I love Dayton and selfishly hope Miller stays. But the idea it is on par with Illinois in the pecking order of coaching jobs is just nuts. Miller could take Illinois to a place of success where he would be recruiting in a completely different pool of prospects.
GOUNUII
GOUNUII
I'm not sure in the eyes of a 17 year old Illinois is really any more appealing than Dayton - Illinois hasn't been relevant during their basketball fan lifetime. I also think in the day and age of the big ten network where basically every game is televised, recruiting is much more national. the notion of keeping chicago or st.louis kids home is much less of a selling point for state school u. I do agree though the idea of competing against duke and UNC would be daunting
Not sure about that. JV was at NCSU from 1980 thru 1990. Over that period Duke was in the final four 4 times (86, 88, 89 and 90). In 80 and 87 they reached the S16. So, I guess Duke was already a major player at that time. Of course, since, they have kept on building on their previous success.
Good point - wake forest had some spurts of sustained success in there as well.
