John Groce at Illinois

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#2,026      
geneseo
TCTORNADO said:
You recollect the MH situation perfectly, he was "creamed." to make room for DP.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Paul technically use up 3 years of ships. The 1 year he was on campus sitting out the transfer, a 2nd year that we sort of held open for his return from TX (we may have gotten a 5th yr in place of that) and finally when he wigged out in France in August, it was too late to get anybody of value(maybe we got Lewis).
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I only counted the year he sat out. I don't remember holding a scholarship open (unused) for him.
 
#2,027      
mattcoldagelli
Second and Chalmers said:
But honestly, in my heart of hearts my belief is that Groce took a knife to a gunfight on both occasions and a savvier coach would have been more prepared for the possibility of striking out.
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For Cliff, yeah.

For Snider, though, we had him! We were on base and fell for the hidden ball trick.
 
#2,028      
ILL in IA
Second and Chalmers said:
But honestly, in my heart of hearts my belief is that Groce took a knife to a gunfight on both occasions and a savvier coach would have been more prepared for the possibility of striking out.
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I completely agree that we should have had a back up plan to not walk away empty handed.


But one thing we love to do is rosterbate and play the, where would we be now had we landed so and so game. We never seem to look back and think about what Cliff would have done to our program after he purchased his lambo and sat out the second half. Or what would we have had to do to keep Snider. Line up escorts? Where would our program be now had Groce brought the gun instead of the knife.
 
#2,029      
FeelYourPaign
I think that John Groce returns next year.
And I hope that he stays a long time.
but just in case he doesn't, I hope that Pitino the Elder and that cheater at UNC both retire this year, so that we don't have to compete with them in search mode next year.
 
#2,030      
eMitch
ILL in IA said:
I completely agree that we should have had a back up plan to not walk away empty handed.
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A backup plan for Cliff? We didn't even have a spot open for him yet, did we? Don't really need much of a backup plan if you're oversigning.
 
#2,034      
EJ33
Nobody has mentioned Caris LeVert as one of Groce's recruiting mistakes (LeVert was committed to Ohio). I believe LeVert has said he was waiting for Groce to call when he took the Illinois job and he never did. Maybe Groce felt he couldn't call, or maybe (and this is what I think) Groce didn't think LeVert was good enough for Illinois. Add that to the long list of incorrect player evaluations by Groce.
 
#2,036      
IAmChrisFarley
EJ33 said:
Nobody has mentioned Caris LeVert as one of Groce's recruiting mistakes (LeVert was committed to Ohio). I believe LeVert has said he was waiting for Groce to call when he took the Illinois job and he never did. Maybe Groce felt he couldn't call, or maybe (and this is what I think) Groce didn't think LeVert was good enough for Illinois. Add that to the long list of incorrect player evaluations by Groce.
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IIRC, he didn't want any bad blood between him and Ohio. That's why he didn't take Levert. I know Groce wishes he took him now.
 
#2,037      
IlliniHeisenberg
EJ33 said:
Nobody has mentioned Caris LeVert as one of Groce's recruiting mistakes (LeVert was committed to Ohio). I believe LeVert has said he was waiting for Groce to call when he took the Illinois job and he never did. Maybe Groce felt he couldn't call, or maybe (and this is what I think) Groce didn't think LeVert was good enough for Illinois. Add that to the long list of incorrect player evaluations by Groce.
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I believe it was going around (and someone feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken) that Groce did not want to steal a prized recruit from his former school. Some say winning at all costs is more important but I always thought that was an admirable thing to do.

Edit: ^beat me to it. But backs up the reasoning I had heard as well.
 
#2,038      
Foggy Notion
EJ33 said:
Nobody has mentioned Caris LeVert as one of Groce's recruiting mistakes (LeVert was committed to Ohio). I believe LeVert has said he was waiting for Groce to call when he took the Illinois job and he never did. Maybe Groce felt he couldn't call, or maybe (and this is what I think) Groce didn't think LeVert was good enough for Illinois. Add that to the long list of incorrect player evaluations by Groce.
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You know what happens when you assume? Monty Python has the answer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svkgOsr7pUc
 
#2,039      
westvilleillini
Serious question, so I apologize if there are any obvious answers out there that I'm missing. But has there ever been a case of a college basketball coach on the "hot seat" who recovers to have long term sustained success?
 
#2,040      
IlliniRunIn07
Greensboro said:
When was the last time we added one, I can't recall one in recent years?
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I thought Mike Davis might have been one, and I looked it up only to find out that I was wrong. But here's a somewhat depressing video. I miss having a PG.

[YOUTUBE]1UwvGbbAbLU[/YOUTUBE]
 
#2,042      
illlllinois
westvilleillini said:
Serious question, so I apologize if there are any obvious answers out there that I'm missing. But has there ever been a case of a college basketball coach on the "hot seat" who recovers to have long term sustained success?
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First couple of seasons for coach K were pretty disastrous
 
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#2,043      
westvilleillini
illlllinois said:
First couple of seasons for coach K were pretty disastorous
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He had losing seasons in his 2nd and 3rd year at Duke, but I'm not sure that people were calling for his head. I guess what I'm getting at is that to me, it seems that a coach who coaches his way onto the hot seat is rarely capable of coaching himself off of the hot seat. I hope JG is the exception, but keeping him around and hoping for a turn around seems like betting against the odds.
 
#2,044      
Newman
westvilleillini said:
He had losing seasons in his 2nd and 3rd year at Duke, but I'm not sure that people were calling for his head. I guess what I'm getting at is that to me, it seems that a coach who coaches his way onto the hot seat is rarely capable of coaching himself off of the hot seat. I hope JG is the exception, but keeping him around and hoping for a turn around seems like betting against the odds.
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Crean, Billy Kennedy, and Mark Turgeon are off the hot seat for now, and maybe Anthony Grant.
 
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#2,046      
TCTORNADO
westvilleillini said:
Serious question, so I apologize if there are any obvious answers out there that I'm missing. But has there ever been a case of a college basketball coach on the "hot seat" who recovers to have long term sustained success?
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Lou Henson
 
#2,047      
westvilleillini
Newman said:
Crean, Billy Kennedy, and Mark Turgeon are off the hot seat for now, and maybe Anthony Grant.
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Crean and Turgeon are both good examples. I would argue that it's to be seen if they can maintain the level at which their teams are currently performing. Their respective arrows are definitely pointing up though. I'm not sure I understand the Anthony Grant example and Kennedy is just one year removed from the NIT but a solid recruiting class has bought him some time.
 
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