Let'sGoZips94

Akron won the MAC Tournament 3 times, with only 1 of those 3 wins coming as the 1 seed. So what did our "high level" of winning more games get us? 1 MAC tourney title?

So the $350k for the first two years is confirmed. Wow. Well done by the Athletic Department to get a quality coach to sign a University-friendly contract. Incentive-based contracts are my favorite - earn your money.

As long as Bragg keeps his nose clean, I have no problem with him coming here - IF he comes here. Kansas is a troubled program, full of bad character that gets bailed out because of the basketball-first mentality. Maybe if he is surround with better people, he will be fine. We'll see. To echo Zippy5: this really is fun.

Indiana State, Illinois State, and Northern Iowa are all upgrades from the MAC, but I'd rather make a jump to Conference USA or AAC. Get me there, Bowden and Groce!

I thought that was an excellent presser. Yes, lots of your typical cliches, but I thought there was a lot of personality and commitment as well. Now I'm interested to see who he can bring in recruits wise.

Groce went with the PC answer, but man, I would've loved for him to say, "If we keep this 21 win streak going, we're going to earn it."

He's bringing up LeBron's Homecoming quote about "Nothing is given; everything is earned."

Groce mentioning being up on the ladder with his kid at the Q a couple years back. Ouch.

Bottom right corner, roll over the screen, and there's a little sound button with a slash through it. Click that.

I know I've previously stated that I'm not a fan of Groce's explosive antics on the court, but I would love for him to go off on our marketing/video department.

LeBron's Coach.

I thought Zach tweeted that he was done supporting Akron basketball? Groce has had a couple players with questionable character, but Dambrot had his share too. Harney, Tree, Diggs, Abreu are the 4 that come to mind.

I will say this. Groce is coming to a program with a connection to arguably the greatest basketball player of all time, and one that has had 12 years of consistent success. If this kid truly committed to Illinois because of Groce, and has an interest in following Groce, Akron would seem to be a pretty attractive option. Especially with the current state of Missouri basketball. I'd say Akron, especially led by Groce, would give Missouri a game if not beat them. Edit: Plus, how often have we said Akron would be a great place for a kids to make a name for themselves? With that being said, I'm not holding my breath. Ok, maybe the NEO sports fan inside of me is. Disappointment coming in 3...2...1...

That bottom one looks like an imitation of Groce breaking the clipboard against Akron years ago.

I do. If you don't expect that, then why hire him?

Which is more of a sad statement than a positive one. Dambrot - 13 seasons = 3 NCAA tournament appearances & 0 wins. Groce - 4 seasons = 2 NCAA tournament appearances & 3 wins. Groce has more NCAA tournament wins than any MAC school in the last 15 years. Not to mention what he was about to do to the MAC with LeVert and Bradds. As someone else previously mentioned in either this thread or another thread: Groce was on the cusp of making the MAC his b*tch.

Welcome to Akron, John and family! This time around, your welcome is more friendly.

I edited this to only show the ones I'm interested in, which is quite a few. Three thoughts... 1. Not a gauntlet, but good, solid competition. 2. Seems to have the mentality of "You won't come here? Ok, I'll go there and beat you." Lots of road games. 3. Wondering if any further connections/relationships were built while at Illinois, and if he'll have some more pull to get some better home games at Akron.

At least one recruit has already said they will honor their initial commitment to Illinois. I hope he doesn't try to pull the players to Akron. I admired in that press conference video that he said to the recruits to continue to go to Illinois. Now, if they make the decision to follow him on their own, I won't complain.

That video actually erases much of the "antics" that I dislike about Groce. Very humbling, and makes me kind of excited for him to come here.

Well, he found a way to get there, and found a way to have NCAAT success, all within 4 years. 13 years of "wins" got us 3 NCAAT appearances, and 0 NCAAT wins.

Yes, and I've been through 300+ games of MAC success with nothing to show for it but a bunch of Participation Trophies such as consecutive 21 win seasons. I would've traded a 21+ win season for a 19 win season that included some upsets and an NCAAT win. I. Want. Tournament. Wins.

So he took Tim O'Shea's players and got them to win a NCAAT game over Georgetown? That's a Helluva feat. Then took his own players and went to the Sweet Sixteen two years later.