Groce fired at Illinois

[bac2therac]

No surprise here. He had the chance to get his team to the NCAA tourney and failed in the past week.

Been there 5 years and Illinois has sank to a 2nd tier Big 10 school after getting used to better finishes. Only one NCAA appearance and that with leftovers from Weber.

Their program has diminished status, its not the elite of the Big 10 so lets see what they will get here.
http://fightingillini.com/news/2017/3/11/mens-basketball-change-in-leadership.aspx

 

[RUJMM78]

No surprise here. He had the chance to get his team to the NCAA tourney and failed in the past week.

Been there 5 years and Illinois has sank to a 2nd tier Big 10 school after getting used to better finishes. Only one NCAA appearance and that with leftovers from Weber.

Their program has diminished status, its not the elite of the Big 10 so lets see what they will get here.
http://fightingillini.com/news/2017/3/11/mens-basketball-change-in-leadership.aspx

One NCAA appearance in 5 years for a school with prior consistent success is shaky grounds to be a head coach.If Groce defeated Rutgers , he probably would still be the head coach at Illinois.

 

[Hamilton's Cannon]

He has the top B1G 2017 class signed. Do they get to opportunity to be released? If so I know a place in the B1G with LOTS of playing time available....

 

[dpwhite]

This is interesting, depending on who they hire. If he can't keep that class together while Hill and Tate graduate... it could be a program that Rutgers can leapfrog next season.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

That's good for us

 

[shields]

Good for us.

 

[bac2therac]

This is interesting, depending on who they hire. If he can't keep that class together while Hill and Tate graduate... it could be a program that Rutgers can leapfrog next season.

yes for sure, they lose alot this year and if those kids bolt then all bets are off. I am glad that Illinois did not give him a pass because of that class and decided the direction of the program was more important than keeping a class...hmm

anyone they probably will not lose all of them, but yeah its important who they hire. If they fail on their younger up and coming targets they could wind up with a Gottfried

 

[knights1212]

This is huge. I knew this was a possibility but I didn't think it would happen considering he had the top recruiting class in the BIG. I wonder how many of their recruits signed letters of intent last November. Even if they all signed perhaps some will get a release. Somehow I would be surprised though if any of them ever would consider RU.

 

[RUJMM78]

GROCE had a 95-75 record.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Good for us.

You own me a soda

 

[shields]

Why?

 

[chrisru99]

Bad move by Illinois best recruiting class in the conference now may be lost. You can't compare keeping him to save this class to Flood. Here is why in basketball 1 or 2 players can change the entire fortunes of a basketball team and make a coach go from average to a superstar coach. In football 2 or 3 players do not make a team it takes several classes to turn a loser into a winner. While Flood was kept to keep a recruiting class together that was not the only reason he was kept. Pernetti was still given a horrendous budget for the head football coach. Flood was paid barely a million dollars when he took over for Greg who was being paid over 2.5 million when he left for the Bucs. There were not a lot of options around to take over for Greg that year. We were not paying for a name coach at 1 million per year. That was a key aspect to that coaching search. While that recruiting class was probably our best ever on paper was still not the top class in a power 5 conference like Illinois has this year. It is safe to assume that this class would have Illinois dancing soon real soon because in Basketball it's just 5 on the court not 11 on the field like football.

 

[bac2therac]

the guy had NCAA talent and never finished over 500 in Big 10...huge underacheivement given the talent

2012-13 Illinois Head Coach 23-13 / 8-10 (7th) NCAA Round of 32
2013-14 Illinois Head Coach 20-15 / 7-11 (8th) NIT 2nd Round
2014-15 Illinois Head Coach 19-14 / 9-9 (7th) NIT 1st Round
2015-16 Illinois Head Coach 15-19 / 5-13 (12th)
2016-17 Illinois Head Coach 18-14 / 8-10 (9th)

 

[dpwhite]

Never mind.

 

[knights1212]

I just checked on their recruiting class. They have 4 guys and they all signed their LOI. Three of the four are rated in the TOP 150 by rivals.

Trent Frazier 6'2" rated at #103.
Jeremiah Tilmon 6'10" rated as #25 in the country.
DaMonte Williams 6'3" rated as #108
Javon Pickett 6'4"

I would think that Tilmon is the best of the four. He had many really big schools after him and most are in the midwest.

 

[PaKnight]

Wow. Top 10 Class including a 5 Star Center. My guess is that they think they can keep some of these kids.

They are signed. If Illinois does not release them, will the NCAA override Illinois?

 

[mikefla]

Bad move by Illinois best recruiting class in the conference now may be lost. You can't compare keeping him to save this class to Flood. Here is why in basketball 1 or 2 players can change the entire fortunes of a basketball team and make a coach go from average to a superstar coach. In football 2 or 3 players do not make a team it takes several classes to turn a loser into a winner. While Flood was kept to keep a recruiting class together that was not the only reason he was kept. Pernetti was still given a horrendous budget for the head football coach. Flood was paid barely a million dollars when he took over for Greg who was being paid over 2.5 million when he left for the Bucs. There were not a lot of options around to take over for Greg that year. We were not paying for a name coach at 1 million per year. That was a key aspect to that coaching search. While that recruiting class was probably our best ever on paper was still not the top class in a power 5 conference like Illinois has this year. It is safe to assume that this class would have Illinois dancing soon real soon because in Basketball it's just 5 on the court not 11 on the field like football.

WTF does Flood have to do with basketballll???
give it a break skippy

 

[huskersalways]

Look for them to go after Greg McDermont at Creighton. He has done about all he can there. Illinois recruiting territory fits where McDermont has connections as well. Plus I don't think he would have the academic hurdles he does at Creighton.

Ooops: It's Greg not Doug. I doubt Doug would stop playing to coach the Illini right now since he just signed a $12mil per year contract.

 

[TDIrish27]

Archie Miller or the guy at Butler.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Why?

I said good for us right before you did. I'll take an organic cola made with real sugar.

 

[bac2therac]

Look for them to go after Doug McDermont at Creighton. He has done about all he can there. Illinois recruiting territory fits where McDermont has connections as well. Plus I don't think he would have the academic hurdles he does at Creighton.

this would be a great choice but would he bolt? He has a good gig there, another Marshall or Smart waiting for the right job, think he can do better than Illinois

NC State figures to go after Miller pretty hard, its his alma mater

 

[huskersalways]

this would be a great choice but would he bolt? He has a good gig there, another Marshall or Smart waiting for the right job, think he can do better than Illinois

NC State figures to go after Miller pretty hard, its his alma mater

He really doesn't have any ties to being there since Doug graduated. He has no chance of taking Creighton any higher than they are. Illinois on the other hand is quiet capable of being elevated to a NC caliber program as they have been before.

 

[bac2therac]

LSU, Missouri and NC State are other big open jobs.

I would think Missouri is at a point where they might want to shell out the bucks. The program has been down a few years but it has a strong hoops history. Honestly I think they made a big mistake leaving the Big 12 for the SEC

 

[bowlgoal]

I would think Illinois had a plan in place prior to pulling the plug today? As for Groce, I thought his team played very well against us and that game could have gone either way. You want to talk about tenacious defense; you can't even inbound the ball without a struggle. If they land a big-time name like McDermott; they can keep those recruits in place and move forward.

 

[huskersalways]

LSU, Missouri and NC State are other big open jobs.

I would think Missouri is at a point where they might want to shell out the bucks. The program has been down a few years but it has a strong hoops history. Honestly I think they made a big mistake leaving the Big 12 for the SEC

Missouri's entire school is a mess right now. They are still reeling from the racial stuff a couple years ago. Enrollment has went down considerably and they also made cutbacks to drop the enrollment even more. Both their football and basketball are a mess. Their jobs are extremely unattractive at present.

 

[Potbelly407]

He really doesn't have any ties to being there since Doug graduated. He has no chance of taking Creighton any higher than they are. Illinois on the other hand is quiet capable of being elevated to a NC caliber program as they have been before.

Creighton was ranked number 10 before losing Mo Watson for the year. No chance taking them higher?

 

[RUsince52]

GROCE had a 95-75 record.

Seems like the complete opposite of CVS situation. We have transfers off a 6 win team. He almost made the Dance and has a great class coming for next season, seems positive. Guess it's a what have you done for Illinois lately thing. Maybe a chance to move up a bit for us, but we have our own issues. We're on a good path.

 

[huskersalways]

Creighton was ranked number 10 before losing Mo Watson for the year. No chance taking them higher?

Very overrated at 10. I think it was more to do with other teams loosing vs what Creighton was actually doing. Watson was their playmaker for sure. They don't have to worry about him helping them again, ever. His next team will be in the Nebraska Penal League.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

NC State has already been shot down by both Archie Miller (Dayton) and Chris Mack (Xavier) once Gottfried was let go.....no one wants to deal with Katie Yow, the AD at NCState.

As far as Illinois, they aren't getting those big name coaches, unless I'm not hearing about something behind the scenes....they went through this 5 to 6 years ago and went through the entire list of candidates and settled on John Groce after he got Ohio through the MAC title game and into the NCAA's with a win or two.

Illinois is in a tricky spot, I don't think Miller or Mack are candidates, when they can get better jobs than Illinois.....The Butler coach would never take that job.

Illinois may have a shot at Illinois State's HC, although their fan base may think it's a small time hire, it may fix their game day problems. Cuonzo Martin may be a idea as well, he can recruit that region with the best of them and is a Nike Coach.

I think once Cal lost last night and are likely out of the NCAA running and heading to the NIT, they may think they can land Martin...he may be able to keep the class intact and add to it quickly for recruiting next year.

 

[HallX2]

this would be a great choice but would he bolt? He has a good gig there, another Marshall or Smart waiting for the right job, think he can do better than Illinois

NC State figures to go after Miller pretty hard, its his alma mater

Money. He is one of the lower paid BE coaches. Somewhere just north of $1 million. Have to think he could get 5yrs $2.5 at Illinois

 

[MADHAT1]

Two longshots:
Tim Jankovich SMU’s HC might be a good fit , having a bit of success at Illinois St before going to SMU in 2012 as an assistant and Larry Brown’s designated heir. Became HC 2 years ago.
Don't know if he'd even want to leave the Mustangs with the job he's doing there, but
he might consider it a step up from being SMU's HC.

The Chicago Bulls Fred Hoiberg might be ready to jump back into the college game again if Chicago is willing to eat some of his contract for him to leave.
Fred isn’t doing as well in the pros as he did at Iowa St and Chicago’s GM might be open to a buyout ( just a guess).
Missing playoffs two years in a row might make Chicago and Hoiberg look for a way out of their relationship and right now the Bulls are in a 3 way tie for the last Eastern Division playoff spot after missing playoffs last season under Fred.

 

[huskersalways]

Money. He is one of the lower paid BE coaches. Somewhere just north of $1 million. Have to think he could get 5yrs $2.5 at Illinois

Creighton won't be able to win a bidding war with any P5 school.

Illinois is a job if they get the right guy will be back in the mix with the top teams in the Big 10 very quick. They have the resources, fan base, and Chicago to recruit.

 

[huskersalways]

Two longshots:
Tim Jankovich SMU’s HC might be a good fit , having a bit of success at Illinois St before going to SMU in 2012 as an assistant and Larry Brown’s designated heir. Became HC 2 years ago.
Don't know if he'd even want to leave the Mustangs with the job he's doing there, but
he might consider it a step up from being SMU's HC.

The Chicago Bulls Fred Hoiberg might be ready to jump back into the college game again if Chicago is willing to eat some of his contract for him to leave.
Fred isn’t doing as well in the pros as he did at Iowa St and Chicago’s GM might be open to a buyout ( just a guess).
Missing playoffs two years in a row might make Chicago and Hoiberg look for a way out of their relationship and right now the Bulls are in a 3 way tie for the last Eastern Division playoff spot after missing playoffs last season under Fred.

Hoiberg is definitely someone I can see going back to the college game and that would be a good landing spot for him.

 

[RU_Planning]

The elite non-P5 program coaches have for the most part learned that their jobs are better than second tier P5 programs.

I believe Archie Miller stays at Dayton until Indiana becomes vacant or Coach K and Roy Williams retire and he'll go to his alma mater NC State. Dayton pays him very well and he's done just as well as NC a state can do without the pressure of beating Duke and UNCheat every season, which is the expectation of that alumni base.

I wasn't keen on the idea of Shaka Smart going to Texas. His margin for error there now is likely pretty slim. He was a god at VCU and very well paid (although not UT-type paid).

Illinois is an interesting case with regards to its desirability to elite non-P5 coaches. However I don't think any of them look at Missouri or NC State as great opportunities given their great position where they are at.

 

[bac2therac]

Money. He is one of the lower paid BE coaches. Somewhere just north of $1 million. Have to think he could get 5yrs $2.5 at Illinois

is he really only making $1 million...wow thats really lowballing

 

[HallX2]

is he really only making $1 million...wow thats really lowballing

Couple years ask he was at 900k. Goes far in Omaha. I'm going to check Creighton's most recent 990 to get a more up to date figure

 

[HallX2]

Couple years ask he was at 900k. Goes far in Omaha. I'm going to check Creighton's most recent 990 to get a more up to date figure

Their 2015 990 shows $1.1 million to McDermott. That would be his 2014 comp.

 

[TDIrish27]

Jankovich would be an excellent hire----former HC at Illinois State.

Larry Brown Assistant so you know he's seen how it's done.

SMU will really dip after this year so it's a good time to move.

 

[IndianaKnight]

Archie Miller or the guy at Butler.

Groce and Chris Holtmann (Butler) were both players and later assistants to Paul Patterson, NAIA Hall of Fame coach at Taylor University (where I worked for 30 years).

 

[G- RUnit]

Illinois is outta their mind. Dumb move.