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John Groce (HC Akron Zips)

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Re: According to his father, Reggie Keely Sr., his son felt loyalty to Groce for showing him interest since he was a freshman. "Reggie felt like Coach Groce had a lot of experience. He has been following Reggie since he was in the ninth grade, and felt he was the best option for Reggie to grow as a player along as well as a young.

Kind of interesting since Groce was at Ohio State during most of this time. Was his interest in him as a potential Ohio State recruit or was Groce doing advance work in case he landed a job at a MAC school in a couple years? :biggrin:
 
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ScriptOhio;1269100; said:
Re: According to his father, Reggie Keely Sr., his son felt loyalty to Groce for showing him interest since he was a freshman. "Reggie felt like Coach Groce had a lot of experience. He has been following Reggie since he was in the ninth grade, and felt he was the best option for Reggie to grow as a player along as well as a young.

Kind of interesting since Groce was at Ohio State during most of this time. Was his interest in him as a potential Ohio State recruit or was Groce doing advance work in case he landed a job at a MAC school in a couple years? :biggrin:
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Groce was definitely keeping his eye on Keely for OSU to see where Keely might end up as a player. Remember, coaches evaluate and talk to hundreds of players. Lots potential recruits in the pipeline, constantly keeping feelers out there. Keely probably wasn't going to end up at OSU but Groce saw potential in PF prospect. Obviously saw that potential for OU when he tookover.
 
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Dispatch

Veteran assistants get their chance

Tuesday, November 4, 2008 3:16 AM
By Mark Znidar


The Columbus Dispatch
CLEVELAND -- The Mid-American Conference preseason basketball media day usually is a time when coaches renew acquaintances and engage in small talk in the hallways of Quicken Loans Arena between interviews. The tone was radically different last week. It really was a getting-to-know-you session among coaches from Ohio teams.
In one corner sat John Groce, the former Ohio State assistant now at Ohio University. Across the room, Gene Cross of Toledo, formerly an assistant at Notre Dame, was holding court.
Then in walked Geno Ford, who has risen from No. 1 assistant to the top job at Kent State.
All that led Miami University coach Charlie Coles, the dean of MAC coaches with 18 seasons and 299 victories at Miami and Central Michigan, to shake his head in wonder.
"Things are changing in this league all the time," he said.
Groce's credentials -- trips to the Elite Eight with Xavier and Final Four with Ohio State as an assistant -- were hole cards when Bobcats athletic director Jim Schaus conducted interviews to name Tim O'Shea's successor.
Is Groce ready to run a program?
"I think I am," he said. "I've been lucky. I've been in different leagues and at different levels. I've coached freshman high school basketball, junior varsity basketball in NAIA, and in college I've coached in the ACC, Atlantic 10, MCC and Big Ten. I've prepared 15 years for this chance."
Groce hit the ground running after being hired in June. He got four commitments from recruits, and a fifth could be in the offing.
"It has been a blitz, a rat race," Groce said. "I got the job during the heavy recruiting months. That part has been hectic. Plus, we're teaching the new staff and the players."
Cont...
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OSU men's basketball: Groce breaks down Vols
Ohio coach praises half-court defense, depth of OSU's foe
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
By Bob Baptist

Tennessee and Ohio State last faced each other only two years ago, but the Volunteers are not the same team on defense that they were then.

That was the observation of Ohio men's basketball coach John Groce yesterday as he sat in his office in Athens returning e-mails to well-wishers after the Bobcats' improbable NCAA Tournament appearance and first-round upset of Georgetown last week.

Ohio lost to Tennessee in the second round Saturday, and Groce and Ohio State coach Thad Matta have shared secrets since. The Buckeyes and Volunteers meet in an NCAA regional semifinal Friday in St. Louis, and Groce was Matta's top assistant when the teams played three times in a little more than 12 months in 2007 and 2008, one of them a Sweet 16 matchup, like Friday's.

"When you think of Tennessee, you think of a scrambling, gambling, pressing, trapping team. The three times we played them, they were," Groce said. "They can still sprinkle that in, and they might, to try to turn (Evan) Turner over.

"But where their bread is buttered now," Groce added, is with a half-court defense that coach Bruce Pearl emphasized because his roster was depleted when he suspended three scholarship players and dismissed one after their arrests Jan.1. Those suspended have been reinstated, and Tennessee plays "a really good half-court defense," Groce said.
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OSU men's basketball: Groce breaks down Vols | BuckeyeXtra
 
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If for whatever reason Thad left OSU soon (I'm not suggesting or starting any rumors and I have no reason to think he won't be coaching OSU for the foreseeable future - this is just a "what if" musing), I'd be happy if they hired Groce to replace him - he should be in line for a bigger job in another year or two. Sorry, OU fans, but after Groce takes you back to the NCAA tourney again (most likely this season), I don't know how much longer he will last in Athens before a bigger school comes calling. I do think Groce's OU club is going to be one of the better mid-majors out there this season.
 
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Groce has the Bobcats at 11-1 and 15th in CBSSports RPI. Not getting much love in the coaches' or AP (3 votes), surprisingly, since they made a bit of a splash by taking current #4 Louisville to the wire at the Yum! Center.

He's been doing a great job there. Something tells me that he won't be in Athens much longer.
 
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Yeah, Groce has OU poised to win another game in the NCAA tourney - will they make a run that leads to heavy interest from a high major program looking for a head coach? Hard to say, because for a team like OU, even though they are doing very well, it still comes down to matchups. But it's a possibility that Groce will lead the Bobcats to a S16 run this year.
 
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Rough start to the MAC season after a tremendous non-conference season. But things seem to be going back on track after blowing out Kent State and then... tomorrow... Ohio honors the legend... the man that I was so fortunate to be a student during his time in Athens, and helped make tons of memories while I was in college (especially a last second road trip to UVA to watch Ohio crush a top 10 team enroute to the Pre-Season NIT title and then a #11 national rating, in which I stormed the court with the other students that made the road trip)

Gary Trent's jersey is being hung in the rafters of the Convocation Center.

To honor this... I have changed my Avatar/Sig
 
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Piney;2092501; said:
Rough start to the MAC season after a tremendous non-conference season. But things seem to be going back on track after blowing out Kent State and then... tomorrow... Ohio honors the legend... the man that I was so fortunate to be a student during his time in Athens, and helped make tons of memories while I was in college (especially a last second road trip to UVA to watch Ohio crush a top 10 team enroute to the Pre-Season NIT title and then a #11 national rating, in which I stormed the court with the other students that made the road trip)

Gary Trent's jersey is being hung in the rafters of the Convocation Center.

To honor this... I have changed my Avatar/Sig
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I was at the game in St. Johns where OU beat OSU. Good memories.
 
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Tlangs;2092505; said:
I was at the game in St. Johns where OU beat OSU. Good memories.
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I had tickets to that game but we went to the Varsity Club before the game and ran into my friend's Uncle who started buying us shots and putting it on his bar tab. In good conscience I had to abuse that bar tab and ended up staying there through the game and most of the night. :drunks:
 
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