Q. This is your first year at Illinois. Are you surprised at how well things have worked out so far?

John Groce: Obviously do you envision sitting at 6 0? I'm a little different. These guys will tell you. I focus on practice every day. At least I hope they'll tell you we come to practice ready to go every day. We try to get better every day and let the results take care of themselves. We don't get caught up in necessarily thinking two games ahead or a game ahead.

Obviously, it's a great start, and I'm happy for these guys. These guys have been through a lot, especially the seniors, Tyler and Brandon and D.J.; and Sam has been a tremendous addition to our class of seniors as well. So I'm happy for those guys. Really happy for Illini Nation. I had no idea we had sold that many. It was unbelievable the turnout that we had. Tremendous support from our fans, so we're blessed and thankful for that as well.

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