The problem with keeping Groce now is that he is 100% behind the 8 ball with pretty much the entire fan base if he is kept next year. Every loss will lead to fans getting their pitch forks fired up. Any sign of adversity will lead to thousands of empty seats in SFC. As much as most fans have, at best, casual knowledge of basketball, they have a ton of power in determining the fate of a coach. It's what makes these jobs so tough. It's like being the president. It's a thankless job where people who with marginal knowledge have the power to determine your fate. JW cannot afford to risk the possibility of fan apathy that will completely derail any chance of the program returning to where they belong. The guy had some awful breaks that completely derailed the momentum that he generated for the program in the first couple of years of his tenure. Once that momentum is derailed, it is almost impossible to get back. The guy just needs a fresh start. He'll probably go back to tOSU as an assistant, and unfortunately, they will probably rise again to the level they were at 5 years ago. He will then learn from mistakes made here and go on to be a successful head coach somewhere.
Our next hire might be the most important hire in our history and will go a long way towards getting the program back to where it belongs or if they will just stay mediocre to bad for years and years to come.
I don't disagree with your president comparison for a multitude of reasons, but I do think that you're right about the fanbase. Attendance has not been good, Krush booed Groce in his intro last night, and so on. I have people who didn't miss a single game in college (in person and multiple road trips) who aren't tuning in because we play bad basketball under a bad coach and can't compete in a down conference where most of the
traditional powers are having terrible years (IU, MSU, OSU). That's going to be incredibly difficult to overcome. That said, we'll see what the response is if he does somehow manage to extend this 2 game streak to 6 or 7.
I think with Lucas and Frazier the point guard position has gone from a disaster to a strength next year. I do think Groce if he's fired is being fired for past failures, I believe if you look at the situation now and heading in to next year he has us on the right track because we are getting way more athletic and the point guard position, which is the most important on the floor is now going to be dramatically better
Let's not get ahead of ourselves on TJL. He's been a bright spot on this team, without a doubt, and probably the best PG Groce has had.
But compared to other PGs throughout the conference, he's average. PG isn't magically a position of strength for us now and likely won't be next year. It is no longer a major position of weakness, however.
Here's a table with all of the conference guards and their conference stats so far this season. Yeah, eye test and whatever, but TJL is not ahead of many other returning guards. Our PG spot will not be a major hole anymore, but it's not immediately a position of strength, either.