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He wasn't playing worth a damn. That's why he wasn't playing. I'll bet on him staying here as his best chance to spend the next 3 years with a good opportunity to play at our level of college basketball.

Forget about the damn conferences. Akron is a relevant college basketball program right now, and Duquesne sucks.

Regardless of how much anyone values the first part, we all want the 2nd part. So, I don't understand why there's still posters who want to discredit anyone who finds more value than themselves in what we've been able to accomplish over the last 13 years. As I said earlier, anyone in this league would love to have our 3 tournament titles (the most) and our 9 title game appearances (the most) and our outright league titles (the most).

A damn sugar cookie with cake icing on it. Don't ask me why, but those have become the most popular desert item requested in the Suites over the last few years, even with plenty of more delectable selections available. I will even venture into other suites to "borrow" any leftovers if the supply runs out. I think that might be breaking a cardinal rule of honor as a Zips fan, but I can't help myself. The University should try to mass market those damn things. Maybe we just found something that we can get Acme involved in again.

Do you know that we've also WON the most title games of anyone in the league in that period of time also? Every program in this league would love to have our titles vs. their titles. Because we have more. And the fans of those teams would have loved to have as many Saturdays in Cleveland as Akron fans have enjoyed. Nobody here, I can guarantee you, thinks that it's OK to lose any game.

Absolutely appropriate to mention this, Kreed. I even read an article recently that said, "do you know how hard it is to get to 9 MAC title games in 11 years"? What was the next highest? Maybe 3 or 4 ? Unbelievable. I actually put much more weight on this accomplishment than the string of 21+ win seasons. That program and the teams under Keith had amazing resolve. Battling back to the title game year after year showed the character of a team that renewed their commitment to winning as many games as possible every year, despite the desire to "want more" when the previous season ended. I'm actually really disappointed that I see so many posts that indicate that so many people are fine with mediocre seasons from here forward as long as we get a chance to win an NCAA tournament game. That's not what some of you folks really want. Admit it. That's all a result of putting your greatest desire so far ahead of all of the WINS that it takes to get there.

I have no doubt about that. But he'll be lucky to end up like Christian and get another chance to move up out of the MAC again. This is not your typical stepping stone situation. These are people who tried to make the climb, and got knocked clearly back to the ground because of failure. Just ask Heath, another ex Kent State coach who spent 7 years at South Florida trying to revive his brief magic from many years ago after falling flat on his face at Arkansas. And he's now back to being an asst again. Groce is in the same predicament. So, finding his way back up the ladder quickly is going to be tough. He's now more than 5 years removed from those times where the college basketball world thought he was something special. He's nearly a forgotten entity already. The next several groups of up-and-comers have already taken his place.

Correct. And how do you know that did happen either? I like the "widely reported" reference. And that's for an Asst. job.

Was he offered another job that I am unaware of ?

How about the one that says that Akron has ZERO NCAA tournament appearances. I'm always amazed at the people who decide to post about something, and yet just flat-out have no factual knowledge at all about the subject matter that they decided to comment about.

Here's more about that firing which seems to speak to your point, from the USA Today article http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/03/john-groce-fired-illinois-basketball-mens-ad-josh-whitman I especially noted this quote: Look, every one of these news releases reads like the awkward eulogy of a man no one really liked. There's really some disturbing numbers: 1) Illinois never had a winning conference record in his 5 years there. 2) Illinois had not failed to make the NCAA tournament for 4 straight years in nearly 4 decades.

Everybody does. I'll trade 2 wins every year for a NCAA Tournament win too. But you're following a crazy scenario that took place a few years ago (one of them from the #9 seed position) and expecting duplication. You have to GET to the NCAA tournament first. And that takes WINS. As of late, this guy hasn't done either. And when he did it previously (OU), he did it by coming from some unlikely positions.

Maybe it is. But you're focusing on single games that were major upsets over 9 years of his career. There's his team's performance over 300+ other games in his career that should be equally evaluated as well.

Man. Ok, I don't like the guy. I guess I'll have to learn to like him. But.....Can we all please quit with all of these things that he's going to do? Suddenly we're upsetting a top seed and going to the Sweet 16 in the next couple of years. On the flip side, I don't think he's going to completely suck, as some people are suggesting either. But I will say that he has something to prove to me with barely a .500 conference record his last stint in the MAC.

Of course. We all WOULD, if it happened.

Pretty interesting logic. The writer bases his belief that Groce is a "major upgrade" solely on the fact that Illinois advance further than Akron in the NIT ?

I'm always entertained by the OU fans with the "Crakron" references.

Certainly something with a little more credibility?

I know that would be for him to decide, but do you think it's enough? He's already been in the NCAA Tournament twice. I just doubt if coaches in the NEC are aspiring to be MAC coaches. As I said earlier, I'm sure if they are doing well they are targeting their next move to be much higher.

I'm sure it's much different if you are on the "receiving" end rather than the "leaving" end.

Here it is.... http://www.cleveland.com/sports/college/index.ssf/2017/04/akron_mens_basketball_job_draw.html At least the Cleveland paper is covering the latest developments in the story.

Uh oh. Here's comes the expectations already.

That's a great suggestion. Unfortunately, you can't change the way people feel. And how they feel will reflect in how willing they are to open their checkbooks.

That "community" includes the fans, donors, and sponsors. Might that be a tough road for a guy who was just despised by those people a few years ago? I know...."If he wins, everyone will forget". So they say. But, that might not be everyone. And it may take too much time to heal old wounds.