Illinois May Or May Not Announce New Basketball Coach This Afternoon

By Chuck Sudo in News on Mar 27, 2012 5:50PM

There are conflicting reports about a possible 3 p.m. news conference this afternoon where the University of Illinois will announce a new men's basketball head coach. Several outlets, including the Sun-Times, say the news conference is a go. The university says it isn't.

Regardless, it's expected that the university and Ohio University men's basketball coach John Groce are thisclose to a deal, which has critics, especially Chicago-area high school and AAU coaches, already decrying the move. Groce became athletic director Mike Thomas' next choice after VCU's Shaka smart and Butler's Brad Stevens turned down the job.

Groce has turned Ohio from an also-ran into a rising power in the Mid-America Conference in four seasons and had a good run in this year's NCAA tournament. He was also instrumental in bringing Greg Oden and other blue chip recruits to Ohio State as an assistant under Thad Matta.

But it's his 34-30 MAC record, his lack of name recognition and, most important, the shouting from the Chicago high school and AAU coaches, that have people scratching heads over the possible hire. WSCR-AM's Laurence Holmes, citing sources, lends credence to the university's position there won't be a press conference by saying there is a flight from Champaign to Athens, Ohio.

Given there have been so many leaks in this story and the "ubi est mea" attitude of the Chicago prep folks, we ask the question: What if Groce turns down the job? Thomas is already under pressure to name a new coach by the time the Final Four games happen this weekend. Losing out on three candidates—one of them a relative unknown—will have experts wondering if Thomas is overvaluing the basketball program's status.