Groce couldnt recruit well enough and it showed
I completely disagree with your analysis about Groce. I know he has been a finalist with some top recruits (Alexander/Brunson/Bragg, etc) but he didn't land any of them. On top of that he is an average coach at best who parlayed one good run in 2012 to a Big Ten job. The combination of not getting enough talent especially at the PG and C positions and being an average coach and this is what happens. Other then Pitino he might be the worst game coach in the Big Ten. It's time to upgrade to a better game coach one who can make quality adjustment both in game and at halftime that can produce more wins year after year. JW will make the change in about 6 weeks and get a quality coach that can recruit as well as coach the kids he has.
Miller isn't happening. Arizona is a program that belongs in the same conversation as programs like MSU and Louisville. "The right price" doesn't lure a coach anywhere as some fans believe. If that were the case, Bill Self would currently be the head coach at Oklahoma State.
And I don't think Thomas necessarily "settled" on Groce. People like to point at his regular season record at Ohio, but his recruiting history as an assistant at tOSU was what made him an intriguing candidate. Someone who could recruit was what our fans wanted at the time because we knew Weber couldn't never lure the big names to Illinois. Groce has the ability to lure big recruits which is proven by him constantly being a finalist for those recruits. There isn't this mythical separation between coaches who can get into the top 3 and coaches who can land the recruit as some fans like to say. That's like saying that there's coaches who can get you to the Super Bowl, and coaches who can WIN the Super Bowl, which unfortunately there are casual fans out there who honestly believe that. If you are good enough to get big recruits' attention enough to be one of their finalists as quickly into your tenure as Groce was able to, then you are good enough to land those recruits. I'm not at all saying we should stick with Groce, I'm just trying to point some of the pure ignorance that casual fans like to run their mouths about because it is so annoying.
I completely disagree with your analysis about Groce. I know he has been a finalist with some top recruits (Alexander/Brunson/Bragg, etc) but he didn't land any of them. On top of that he is an average coach at best who parlayed one good run in 2012 to a Big Ten job. The combination of not getting enough talent especially at the PG and C positions and being an average coach and this is what happens. Other then Pitino he might be the worst game coach in the Big Ten. It's time to upgrade to a better game coach one who can make quality adjustment both in game and at halftime that can produce more wins year after year. JW will make the change in about 6 weeks and get a quality coach that can recruit as well as coach the kids he has.