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Reports: Illini hire John Groce


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QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 04:38 PM)
Completely unreputable message board sources say the holding point is the staff that would be put together. If he wants Jerrance out, then I would be really upset. Jerrance is the best asset we have right now.

I know nothing about that person, why is he such an asset?

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QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 04:42 PM)
I know nothing about that person, why is he such an asset?

Former Illini, connects well with the players, recruits well in Chicago. He has the chance to be a solid coach in the future, but he is very very young at this point.

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QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 10:42 PM)
I know nothing about that person, why is he such an asset?

Homegrown coach that single handily turned around our recruiting, particularly in Chicago. Played for U of I, came here as assistant and now is one of the highest paid assistants in the country. He has great relationships with everyone around the state. In addition to being a great recruiter, he's very highly touted for his game prep. He's interim HC now and will undoubtedly get a full time job one day, but a little young for the time being.

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QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 04:53 PM)
Basically everyone. We might have sucked, but we did land three straight top 15 classes because of him.

No offense, but I see zero top 10 classes which he apparently recruited all of. Now this is a guy people would rather have coaching instead of a guy who was recruiter of the year, delivered, as an assistant, the #1 class in the country (or #2) and has head coaching experience as well as tournament victories. I hope to hell the people calling for him to be head coach are kidding.

 

 

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QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 04:57 PM)
No offense, but I see zero top 10 classes which he apparently recruited all of. Now this is a guy people would rather have coaching instead of a guy who was recruiter of the year, delivered, as an assistant, the #1 class in the country (or #2) and has head coaching experience as well as tournament victories. I hope to hell the people calling for him to be head coach are kidding.

I can understand the reason to want to keep him around, he very well could be the coach after this next one. But yea, right now he's bottom of the barrel really.

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QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 10:57 PM)
No offense, but I see zero top 10 classes which he apparently recruited all of. Now this is a guy people would rather have coaching instead of a guy who was recruiter of the year, delivered, as an assistant, the #1 class in the country (or #2) and has head coaching experience as well as tournament victories. I hope to hell the people calling for him to be head coach are kidding.

He had the number 7 class two years ago, 13th class last year, and 15th class 3 years ago. The greater thing is that people love him, particularly in Chicago, and there is no better ambassador to sell the school. Obviously, it's baseless speculation, but I think Groce is an idiot if he does not Jerrance Howard on his staff at Illinois.

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QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 05:04 PM)
He had the number 7 class two years ago, 13th class last year, and 15th class 3 years ago. The greater thing is that people love him, particularly in Chicago, and there is no better ambassador to sell the school. Obviously, it's baseless speculation, but I think Groce is an idiot if he does not Jerrance Howard on his staff at Illinois.

Scout has them 11th. There probably are other area HS coaches that you could hire at a cheaper price that would give you similar inroads. I also see zero top Chicago players in those classes (unless you count Richmond), most of those guys went elsewhere. There is always the possibility of getting someone who can actually convince the Anthony Davis and Jabari Parker's of the world to go down to Champaign. That may be why guys like Groce are looking to bring in someone instead of him.

 

s*** camp someone out at Whitney Young each year and you can have 2-3 D1 players.

Edited by RockRaines
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QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 10:08 PM)
Scout has them 11th. There probably are other area HS coaches that you could hire at a cheaper price that would give you similar inroads. I also see zero top Chicago players in those classes (unless you count Richmond), most of those guys went elsewhere. There is always the possibility of getting someone who can actually convince the Anthony Davis and Jabari Parker's of the world to go down to Champaign. That may be why guys like Groce are looking to bring in someone instead of him.

 

s*** camp someone out at Whitney Young each year and you can have 2-3 D1 players.

I was using RSCI. Anyways, it takes some perspective. We were landing absolutely nothing before he came in. He alone has landed 3 CPL kids, which is about as many as we have had the previous 15+ years. Jerrance is going to land some top kids too. That's clear. Mind you this was his very first assistant job. Do you think Groce comes into OSU and starts landing top classes without creating prior contacts? Nope. There's a reason people love him. Even on the radio today, they had a few people on from the high school basketball scene talking how great Jerrance has been. They didn't know Groce.

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QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 05:17 PM)
I was using RSCI. Anyways, it takes some perspective. We were landing absolutely nothing before he came in. He alone has landed 3 CPL kids, which is about as many as we have had the previous 15+ years. Jerrance is going to land some top kids too. That's clear. Mind you this was his very first assistant job. Do you think Groce comes into OSU and starts landing top classes without creating prior contacts? Nope. There's a reason people love him. Even on the radio today, they had a few people on from the high school basketball scene talking how great Jerrance has been. They didn't know Groce.

Fair enough, I dont know enough about your recruiting to be honest. The Chicago recruiting scene is so f***ing dirty, I always worry about "insiders." There is a TON of money exchanging hands, and alot of it is coming from schools that are from out of state.

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Jerrance is what? 28? 29?

 

If Illinois fans want to keep saying he is too young, he will go somewhere else and get a head coach job. Probably at a mid major, and than Illinois will lose him for good, most likely. He has been an assistant for 5 years at Illinois, plus 2 before that elsewhere. I don't think it would be an awful idea to give him the job.

 

How old was Brad Stevens when he took over at Butler? There are oung coaches everywhere now, even in the NBA.

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I keep hearing Howard can recruit, but can he coach? It is one thing to get the guys there, and it is another to get them to play how they should play. Someone previously said that UI has had three straight top 15 classes, but what do they have to show for it? What about what has happened down there tells anyone that this guy would be a better X's and O's/ manager of people than Webber was?

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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 10:49 PM)
I keep hearing Howard can recruit, but can he coach? It is one thing to get the guys there, and it is another to get them to play how they should play. Someone previously said that UI has had three straight top 15 classes, but what do they have to show for it? What about what has happened down there tells anyone that this guy would be a better X's and O's/ manager of people than Webber was?

Howard has a great basketball mind. He surpassed the other two assistants very quickly when it came to game prep. What happened with Illinois goes beyond that.

Edited by Buehrle>Wood
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QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 05:13 PM)
Pfff. I hope to god nobody actually believes that. Some OSU fans actually believe that he's considering us too. In this case, $$ talks.

I don't think so. Parker may be an exception. He comes from a solid family. But for Illinois and/or their fans to think he has to be an Illini for them to have much of a future, if he's anywhere near as good as expected, he's only going be playing for one or two years in college.

Edited by Dick Allen
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QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 06:02 PM)
Howard has a great basketball mind. He surpassed the other two assistants very quickly when it came to game prep. What happened with Illinois goes beyond that.

So he's a great basketball mind and a great recruiter, how come no other schools are interviewing him for a head job? I think his popularity is back up QB syndrome. Why did Weber get fired? Coaching? Recruiting?

Edited by Dick Allen
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QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 06:19 PM)
So he's a great basketball mind and a great recruiter, how come no other schools are interviewing him for a head job? I think his popularity is back up QB syndrome. Why did Weber get fired? Coaching? Recruiting?

 

First his recruiting sucked. Then once he got that turned around, his coaching suddenly went to s***. .

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QUOTE (Brian @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 05:34 PM)
Jerrance is what? 28? 29?

 

If Illinois fans want to keep saying he is too young, he will go somewhere else and get a head coach job. Probably at a mid major, and than Illinois will lose him for good, most likely. He has been an assistant for 5 years at Illinois, plus 2 before that elsewhere. I don't think it would be an awful idea to give him the job.

 

How old was Brad Stevens when he took over at Butler? There are oung coaches everywhere now, even in the NBA.

 

 

I'd rather not lose Jerrance for John Groce, that's for sure.

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QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 06:28 PM)
First his recruiting sucked. Then once he got that turned around, his coaching suddenly went to s***. .

I think he's probably a better option than the candidates being considered, although I don't think Groce is a bad choice. I think he may be better than Shaka and Stevens. He can recruit, and knows the Big Ten. People are too hung up on his record. If you inherit a mess, it takes a while to clean up especially at a school like Ohio where 4 star recruits aren't going to be lining up to attend no matter who the coach is. I don't think Weber forgot how to coach. If this assistant is as good of a recruiter as some claim, the Illini would have been just fine without making a change.

Edited by Dick Allen
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QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 11:19 PM)
So he's a great basketball mind and a great recruiter, how come no other schools are interviewing him for a head job? I think his popularity is back up QB syndrome. Why did Weber get fired? Coaching? Recruiting?

I wont comment on why he was fired, but its simply more than a blanket statement like recruiting or coaching. As for Jerrance, he's 29. That's why.

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QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 11:37 PM)
I think he's probably a better option than the candidates being considered, although I don't think Groce is a bad choice. I think he may be better than Shaka and Stevens. He can recruit, and knows the Big Ten. People are too hung up on his record. If you inherit a mess, it takes a while to clean up especially at a school like Ohio where 4 star recruits aren't going to be lining up to attend no matter who the coach is. I don't think Weber forgot how to coach. If this assistant is as good of a recruiter as some claim, the Illini would have been just fine without making a change.

Fwiw, Groce didn't inherit a mess. He inherited a program that won 80 games the previous four years(he's improved on that, but just saying)

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QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 06:19 PM)
So he's a great basketball mind and a great recruiter, how come no other schools are interviewing him for a head job? I think his popularity is back up QB syndrome. Why did Weber get fired? Coaching? Recruiting?
My google search says he was turned down or not considered for the Bradley job.
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QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 06:29 PM)
I'd rather not lose Jerrance for John Groce, that's for sure.

I dont get this at all. Groce has shown to be as good of if not a better recruiter than Howard. What does Howard bring to the table that Groce doesnt other than he played for Illinois.

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