Butler's Stevens Turns Down Illinois
By Benjy Lipsman in News on Mar 26, 2012 6:00PM
Another day, another rejection for the Illini from a mid-major basketball coach. On Sunday, Butler University's Brad Stevens followed in the footsteps of Virginia Commonwealth's Shaka Smart and announced that he was remaining with the Bulldogs rather than jump to the University of Illinois.
In an effort to land Stevens, Illinois athletic director Mike Thomas apparently offered the Butler coach a contract equal in length to the balance of his current Butler deal, but for substantially more money. The contract would have run through the 2021-2022 season and been worth a total of about $21 million.
Having whiffed on Smart and Stevens, will the third time be the charm? Thomas' latest target is apparently Ohio coach John Groce, yet another mid-major coach to make a surprising run in the NCAA tournament. Will the prospects of a bigger paycheck and the prestige of coaching in the Big Ten be enough to lure Groce away from Athens, Ohio? While Smart and Stevens may have enough prominence at this point to know they'll be contacted about any high profile opening and can thus wait for the perfect situation to present itself, the lesser know Groce may jump.
The prospects of having to recruit in the rough and tumble world of Chicago prep hoops is a reason that's caused a number of candidates to balk already, and Groce doesn't seem any more prepared for that. But he also has deep ties in the Midwest and is known for his recruiting skills, so perhaps he has some creative ways to stockpile talent for the Illini.
If, however, Groce turns down the Illini's overtures as well, Thomas might need to go in a different direction on his coaching search. Rather than look for smaller college coaches, maybe he should look to fomer players. Has he considered talking to Kendall Gill, who played for the Illini and is now an NBA analyst for the Bulls? While perhaps not the traditional path for a college basketball coach, Gill knows the program, knows basketball and knows Chicago.