John Groce Officially Hired

[kreed5120]

4 minutes ago, mes102 said:

No one is downplaying how he did here in the regular season. It's strictly about MAC tournament and NCAA tournament performance. I'm getting really tired of people still bringing him up when he's not our coach anymore. Support Coach Groce and his staff or get out.

 

His only black mark was no NCAAT win. IDK how anyone can question his 3 tourney appearances when we only made 1 in our entire existence before Dambrot. I do agree people need to quit b******** about Groce and at least give the dude a chance. I'm going to be renewing my season tickets and I hope everyone else does too. It's a pivotal point in Zips basketball history and they need our support.

[Captain Kangaroo]

I stopped down at the EJ Thomas meet-and-greet last night. The downside was it was poorly attended. The upside was being able to spend a good amount of time talking to Groce.

 

The guy barely knows where the JAR's located, so it wasn't really the time nor the place to ask who'll be the starting point guard next season, or who's going to round-out his staff. The conversation was "casual."

 

He was very gracious with us. After talking to our group for an extended time period, Larry Williams had to pull him away to speak to some of the other attendees. I think he would have talked to us all night if Williams wouldn't have interjected.

 

He said his #1 priority was getting to know the existing players, and trying to "recruit" them to stay with the Program. The signing day is April 12th, but he's giving the kids some extra time recover from the coaching changeover and make a well-thought-out decision...to an extent. He mentioned "three weeks" as the max time before he needed an answer. 

 

Based upon the tone of our conversation regarding Antino, there's a chance he sticks around once the emotions subside.

 

He met with the team yesterday, and is meeting again with them today.

 

I asked if he had any idea regarding the players abilities, and said he'd watched the Zips final two games in the MAC tourney.

 

I assured him that the sparse turnout at EJ wasn't indicative of the Zips basketball following, and that we'd had 7,000 Zips fans at The Q only a couple weeks ago. He didn't seem concerned, as he knew of our respectable game day crowds from his time at OU.

 

It was more of an event to make the guy and his family feel welcome. I think once the dust settles, he'll prove to be an approachable guy, 

 

The next 2 weeks will be fun...certainly the most intriguing basketball recruiting period since Zeke's. And the coaching staff formation will be fun to keep tabs on as well.

 

It was fun to catch up with a couple other ZipsNation members that I had't spoken to in a while. And the University put out a really nice spread of food. Although it was a cold, crappy Thursday night I had a good time, and left with the feeling that our Basketball Program is in better shape than it was had Keith Dambrot stuck around for another season. 

[mes102]

6 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

 

His only black mark was no NCAAT win. IDK how anyone can question his 3 tourney appearances when we only made 1 in our entire existence before Dambrot. I do agree people need to quit b******** about Groce and at least give the dude a chance. I'm going to be renewing my season tickets and I hope everyone else does too. It's a pivotal point in Zips basketball history and they need our support.

Going 3-6 in MAC Championship games isn't a black mark? And don't give me the "At least we made it to the 9 MAC Championship games." That's not the mentality we need to have with this program. Our goal should be to be in the NCAA tournament every year. Not be happy that we were one step short of that...

[kreed5120]

59 minutes ago, mes102 said:

Going 3-6 in MAC Championship games isn't a black mark? And don't give me the "At least we made it to the 9 MAC Championship games." That's not the mentality we need to have with this program. Our goal should be to be in the NCAA tournament every year. Not be happy that we were one step short of that...

 

It's better to get there and lose than not get there at all like we had been doing for the prior 30+ years before Dambrot got here. I'm sorry I'm not buying your if you're not first, you're last mentality.

Edited April 7, 2017 by kreed5120

[mes102]

52 minutes ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

I stopped down at the EJ Thomas meet-and-greet last night. The downside was it was poorly attended. The upside was being able to spend a good amount of time talking to Groce.

 

The guy barely knows where the JAR's located, so it wasn't really the time nor the place to ask who'll be the starting point guard next season, or who's going to round-out his staff. The conversation was "casual."

 

He was very gracious with us. After talking to our group for an extended time period, Larry Williams had to pull him away to speak to some of the other attendees. I think he would have talked to us all night if Williams wouldn't have interjected.

 

He said his #1 priority was getting to know the existing players, and trying to "recruit" them to stay with the Program. The signing day is April 12th, but he's giving the kids some extra time recover from the coaching changeover and make a well-thought-out decision...to an extent. He mentioned "three weeks" as the max time before he needed an answer. 

 

Based upon the tone of our conversation regarding Antino, there's a chance he sticks around once the emotions subside.

 

He met with the team yesterday, and is meeting again with them today.

 

I asked if he had any idea regarding the players abilities, and said he'd watched the Zips final two games in the MAC tourney.

 

I assured him that the sparse turnout at EJ wasn't indicative of the Zips basketball following, and that we'd had 7,000 Zips fans at The Q only a couple weeks ago. He didn't seem concerned, as he knew of our game day crowds during his time at OU.

 

It was more of an event to make the guy and his family feel welcome. I think once the dust settles, he'll prove to be an approachable, 

 

I think the next 2 weeks will be fun...certainly the most intriguing basketball recruiting period since Zeke's. And the staff formation will be fun to keep tabs on as well.

 

It was fun to catch up with a couple other ZipsNation members that I had't spoken to in a while. And the University put out a really nice spread of food. Although it was a cold, crappy Thursday night I had a good time, and left with the feeling that our Basketball Program is in better shape than it was had Keith Dambrot stuck around for another season. 

Thanks for the recap, CK. I was wondering how it went last night, I felt bad not being able to make it. I had AAU practice last night from 6-7:30, and with no assistants, I couldn't pass it off to anyone last night. We have a tournament this weekend, so I couldn't just cancel the practice. We had a few things we needed to clean up before the tournament(for example, needed work on our press-breakers). Plus, it's almost an hour drive for me one way, but I wouldn't have cared about that if it wasn't for my AAU practice last night.
 

Edited April 7, 2017 by mes102

[kreed5120]

@Captain Kangaroo thanks for the recap. 

[tpsjugglerdude]

28 minutes ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

I stopped down at the EJ Thomas meet-and-greet last night. The downside was it was poorly attended. The upside was being able to spend a good amount of time talking to Groce.

 

The guy barely knows where the JAR's located, so it wasn't really the time nor the place to ask who'll be the starting point guard next season, or who's going to round-out his staff. The conversation was "casual."

 

He was very gracious with us. After talking to our group for an extended time period, Larry Williams had to pull him away to speak to some of the other attendees. I think he would have talked to us all night if Williams wouldn't have interjected.

 

He said his #1 priority was getting to know the existing players, and trying to "recruit" them to stay with the Program. The signing day is April 12th, but he's giving the kids some extra time recover from the coaching changeover and make a well-thought-out decision...to an extent. He mentioned "three weeks" as the max time before he needed an answer. 

 

Based upon the tone of our conversation regarding Antino, there's a chance he sticks around once the emotions subside.

 

He met with the team yesterday, and is meeting again with them today.

 

I asked if he had any idea regarding the players abilities, and said he'd watched the Zips final two games in the MAC tourney.

 

I assured him that the sparse turnout at EJ wasn't indicative of the Zips basketball following, and that we'd had 7,000 Zips fans at The Q only a couple weeks ago. He didn't seem concerned, as he knew of our respectable game day crowds from his time at OU.

 

It was more of an event to make the guy and his family feel welcome. I think once the dust settles, he'll prove to be an approachable, 

 

The next 2 weeks will be fun...certainly the most intriguing basketball recruiting period since Zeke's. And the coaching staff formation will be fun to keep tabs on as well.

 

It was fun to catch up with a couple other ZipsNation members that I had't spoken to in a while. And the University put out a really nice spread of food. Although it was a cold, crappy Thursday night I had a good time, and left with the feeling that our Basketball Program is in better shape than it was had Keith Dambrot stuck around for another season. 

Thanks for the recap. Did he happen to mention a recruiting strategy for this short time period? I know he can't name names, but did he mention targeting players he had previously been recruiting, using JUCO's, or transfers? I'm just curious where Dambrot wasn't even announced officially as the hc at his new job and we already saw on Twitter he was out recruiting and making offers.

[Captain Kangaroo]

7 minutes ago, tpsjugglerdude said:

Thanks for the recap. Did he happen to mention a recruiting strategy for this short time period? I know he can't name names, but did he mention targeting players he had previously been recruiting, using JUCO's, or transfers? I'm just curious where Dambrot wasn't even announced officially as the hc at his new job and we already saw on Twitter he was out recruiting and making offers.

Having been on the job for only 2 days, he was really just focused on the kids presently on campus. 

 

Once he gets a determination on their status, he'll know how many scholarships he's got to offer. I think things will become a lot clearer over the next week.

[Blue & Gold]

I hope Coach Groce feels ZERO pressure to keep the 21-win streak going. I want our team to grow with a more challenging non-conference schedule.

[kreed5120]

39 minutes ago, tpsjugglerdude said:

Thanks for the recap. Did he happen to mention a recruiting strategy for this short time period? I know he can't name names, but did he mention targeting players he had previously been recruiting, using JUCO's, or transfers? I'm just curious where Dambrot wasn't even announced officially as the hc at his new job and we already saw on Twitter he was out recruiting and making offers.

 

The guys Dambrot was out recruiting were guys that were already on his radar from his time at Akron. Groce wasn't looking at undervalued 2* star and fringe 3* recruits in Illinois. He was looking at blue chip talent. It's going to take an adjustment period and he might need to hire an assistant or use an outside firm to help bring him up to speed on what JUCO and under recruited talent remains.

[Dr Z]

7 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

I hope Coach Groce feels ZERO pressure to keep the 21-win streak going.

Only first-year Duquesne director of athletics Dave Harper prioritizes such a streak. ?

[skip-zip]

1 hour ago, kreed5120 said:

 

It's better to get there and lose than not get there at all like we had been doing for the prior 30+ years before Dambrot got here. I'm sorry I'm not buying your if you're not first, you're last mentality.

 

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.   

[akronzips71]

Major Major schools get to have losing conference seasons and go to the Dance. Thus the angst.

[clarkwgriswold]

23 minutes ago, skip-zip said:

 

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.   

 

Those folks will be happy to take that position until they start seeing .500 seasons, then the tune will change...

[Blue & Gold]

1 hour ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

He said his #1 priority was getting to know the existing players, and trying to "recruit" them to stay with the Program. The signing day is April 12th, but he's giving the kids some extra time recover from the coaching changeover and make a well-thought-out decision...to an extent. He mentioned "three weeks" as the max time before he needed an answer. 

 

The scholarship players sign to re-up their scholarships on a yearly basis?

[kreed5120]

16 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

 

Those folks will be happy to take that position until they start seeing .500 seasons, then the tune will change...

 

 

Edit: They are already using Groce 34-30 MAC record as ammunition against him despite his 3 tourney wins. Some people will always look for something to complain about.

Edited April 7, 2017 by kreed5120

[morris buttermaker]

7 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

 

The scholarship players sign to re-up their scholarships on a yearly basis?

yes

[mes102]

42 minutes ago, skip-zip said:

 

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.   

As a coach, I can't stand that mentality. Where I coach high school basketball, our ultimate goal is to win a state championship. Will we ever win a state championship? Maybe not, but if you don't put the work and commitment into what it takes to win a state championship, you never will win a state championship. Now, we're nowhere near a state title right now. But we're working towards giving ourselves a chance. Won our first tournament game since 2010, and we're now set up to make a nice tournament run the next few years, with a chance at a state championship. It doesn't happen overnight at the high school level, and you have to go through lifting, conditioning, practicing, and game preparing like a state championship-caliber team would. And over time, you give yourself a chance.

What's your ultimate goal here as a Zip fan? Mine is a national championship. It's not realistic, but should be the ultimate goal of every college basketball program. Maybe the coach is hindering my mind as a fan, but I just can't stand the mentality of it's okay to lose in the MAC Championship game just because we've been there 9 times in the past 11 years and the history of the last 30+ years of the program.

Edited April 7, 2017 by mes102

[Dr Z]

9 minutes ago, mes102 said:

What's your ultimate goal here as a Zip fan? Mine is a national championship. It's not realistic, but should be the ultimate goal of every college basketball program.

Mine is the sweet sixteen, and it is realistic. I watched Kent State do it. I'm not disagreeing with you. Only trying to support your point. 

[skip-zip]

15 minutes ago, mes102 said:

I just can't stand the mentality of it's okay to lose in the MAC Championship game just because we've been there 9 times in the past 11 years and the history of the last 30+ years of the program.

 

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. 

[Captain Kangaroo]

31 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

The scholarship players sign to re-up their scholarships on a yearly basis?

I don't think any incumbent player that wants to stay with the team is not welcome to stay.

 

I'm only referring to the kids who've expressed an interest in transferring, or graduating early. Groce is giving them, and their families, time take a step back and assess the situation before making a final decision. 

[kreed5120]

9 minutes ago, mes102 said:

As a coach, I can't stand that mentality. Where I coach high school basketball, our ultimate goal is to win a state championship. Will we ever win a state championship? Maybe not, but if you don't put the work and commitment into what it takes to win a state championship, you never will win a state championship. Now, we're nowhere near a state title right now. But we're working towards giving ourselves a chance. Won our first tournament game since 2010, and we're now set up to make a nice tournament run the next few years, with a chance at a state championship. It doesn't happen overnight at the high school level, and you have to go through lifting, conditioning, practicing, and game preparing like a state championship-caliber team would. And over time, you give yourself a chance.

What's your ultimate goal here as a Zip fan? Mine is a national championship. It's not realistic, but should be the ultimate goal of every college basketball program. Maybe the coach is hindering my mind as a fan, but I just can't stand the mentality of it's okay to lose in the MAC Championship game just because we've been there 9 times in the past 11 years and the history of the last 30+ years of the program.

 

Everyone wants more or at least I hope they do. It's why I said Dambrot's lack of a tourney win is a black mark. Keith Dambrot ended up with the best winning % of all-time in the MAC tournament. He put us in a position to have a chance pretty much every season. It's easy to cherry pick a stat to fit your narrative, but his real record in the MACT was 27-10 (.723). I'm sorry that's a damn good win %. 

[wadszip]

1 hour ago, kreed5120 said:

 

The guys Dambrot was out recruiting were guys that were already on his radar from his time at Akron. Groce wasn't looking at undervalued 2* star and fringe 3* recruits in Illinois. He was looking at blue chip talent. It's going to take an adjustment period and he might need to hire an assistant or use an outside firm to help bring him up to speed on what JUCO and under recruited talent remains.

Exactly. Which is why I don't think he is rushing the current UA players to make a decision because he knows this, for the most part, is a lost recruiting cycle for high school kids. There were a couple 3-stars from Illinois who he showed some interest in who, according to 247, have failed so far to receive firm high-major offers (listed in the possible targets thread). So maybe one of them could get in the picture. But there are absolutely no unsigned high school targets in Ohio that he should be concerned about, IMO.

 

Plus, a lot of the unsigned JUCOs will see how signing day shakes out before making their choices. And there likely will be a new wave of transfers (some being grad transfers who can play right away) in the days/weeks after signing day.

 

So, while seeing that signing day is next week, on the surface, it makes it seem like he's going to have to rush to put his roster together in the next couple days, he really has a bit more time to work with. Still, I imagine we'll have a grasp for what next year's roster will be by the end of the month.

[Blue & Gold]

15 minutes ago, Dr Z said:

Mine is the sweet sixteen, and it is realistic. I watched Kent State do it. I'm not disagreeing with you. Only trying to support your point. 

This is where I'm at.  As a Zips fan, for years I've thought I could die happy if I live to see the football team ranked in the Top 25 and our basketball team make the Sweet Sixteen.

[K92]

2 hours ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

I stopped down at the EJ Thomas meet-and-greet last night. The downside was it was poorly attended. The upside was being able to spend a good amount of time talking to Groce.

 

The guy barely knows where the JAR's located, so it wasn't really the time nor the place to ask who'll be the starting point guard next season, or who's going to round-out his staff. The conversation was "casual."

 

He was very gracious with us. After talking to our group for an extended time period, Larry Williams had to pull him away to speak to some of the other attendees. I think he would have talked to us all night if Williams wouldn't have interjected.

 

He said his #1 priority was getting to know the existing players, and trying to "recruit" them to stay with the Program. The signing day is April 12th, but he's giving the kids some extra time recover from the coaching changeover and make a well-thought-out decision...to an extent. He mentioned "three weeks" as the max time before he needed an answer. 

 

Based upon the tone of our conversation regarding Antino, there's a chance he sticks around once the emotions subside.

 

He met with the team yesterday, and is meeting again with them today.

 

I asked if he had any idea regarding the players abilities, and said he'd watched the Zips final two games in the MAC tourney.

 

I assured him that the sparse turnout at EJ wasn't indicative of the Zips basketball following, and that we'd had 7,000 Zips fans at The Q only a couple weeks ago. He didn't seem concerned, as he knew of our respectable game day crowds from his time at OU.

 

It was more of an event to make the guy and his family feel welcome. I think once the dust settles, he'll prove to be an approachable guy, 

 

The next 2 weeks will be fun...certainly the most intriguing basketball recruiting period since Zeke's. And the coaching staff formation will be fun to keep tabs on as well.

 

It was fun to catch up with a couple other ZipsNation members that I had't spoken to in a while. And the University put out a really nice spread of food. Although it was a cold, crappy Thursday night I had a good time, and left with the feeling that our Basketball Program is in better shape than it was had Keith Dambrot stuck around for another season. 

Well. . .Did they have the kangaroo shaped cookies or not???