Jerrance Howard won't be back with Illini

"Meeting with him, it was hard now. He loves this place," Groce said. "He played here. He's coached here. And that made it a little unique and different. His wife (Jessica) went to school here. So I had to take all of that into consideration. That's part of the reason it's taken me some time to make that decision. He was a very viable candidate.

"But at the end of the day, for me, the thing I was most comfortable with was starting with that clean slate. It's nothing against Jerrance. He's done a good job. I know he's going to do well regardless of where his life heads from here."

Klee