(Update: Josh Whitman announces that Groce will return)
“I don’t agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” That’s a quote attributed to French Enlightenment Philosopher-Writer Voltaire, and there’s a debate over whether he actually even said that.
I do not feel John Groce deserves the opportunity to return as Illinois Fighting Illini Men’s Basketball Head Coach next season.
Dick Vitale, the larger than life ESPN Media Personality, disagrees with me.
Given all that he’s done to promote March Madness, it’s an honor to present this dissenting opinion here. Dick Vitale did a national media conference call yesterday. It covered a lot of topics. You’ll also want to hear why he has Michigan State reaching the Final Four again, and where he thinks Michigan will end up on the NCAA bubble (coming Monday).
During my turn to ask a question, I said something to the effect of:
A lot of Illini fans, alums, media etc. are calling for Illinois to make a coaching change at the end of the season; given the program’s recent decline. Do you think Illinois should or will make a coaching change?
If so, who are some guys who would take the Illinois job?
The audio can be found here at this link. Groce hot seat talk begins around the 22:30 to 23:00 mark.
Dick Vitale said in regards to 2016-17:
“Any time you have key injuries, and you’re competing at the level that they’re trying to compete at, in that Big Ten, with so many quality teams, it’s tough. I hope they give him another year.”
“I’m hoping he can get another chance, with a healthy team to see what he can do in that scenario, but we live in a world, because of talk shows, radio talk shows and social media of instant gratification, as soon as you begin to falter.”
Vitale then brought up Mike Krzyzewski, and the fact that Coach K’s early years at Duke produced under .500 records.
Dickie V. said said he wondered recently if Coach K. would have been canned early on had those down years occurred during the social media era. Vitale wondered what Duke would have missed out on by being pressured to jump the gun and fire Krzyzewski.
Hey, this wouldn’t be a Dick Vitale interview/article without some extensive praise for Coach K and Duke!
“When they think the grass is greener, fire the coach, fire the coach. Sometimes that’s not the answer,” Vitale said.
Dickie V. would not speculate on potential Groce replacements saying:
“I would never speculate on a job while a guy is in his job, obviously a school like Illinois would attract a lot of quality people, but in fairness to John Groce, they have had a lot of key injuries that hurt them big time.”
Most of the media voices calling for Groce’s head come from outside the I-57/I-74 Beltway Bubble. You just don’t have many media influencers inside the local, central Illinois media bubble expressing the urgent need to remove him. It’s like Groce used an old Jedi mind trick on the Champaign-Urbana media:
“Injuries are a valid excuse. You don’t want to oust me.”
“You will write op-eds saying I deserve another season.”
If I had to wager, I would guess that newly minted Athletic Director Josh Whitman will not replace John Groce at the end of this season.
It’s been 55 days and counting since Illinois beat a team not named Rutgers or Minnesota. In other words, every time Illinois plays a real team, (the term “real team” does not apply to Rutgers or Minnesota anymore) it ends poorly. Every time the Illini are on national television, versus a premier program/ranked team something like last night’s 81-55 destruction at Maryland, televised on ESPN, occurs.
As the Daily Illini basketball beat writer Alex Roux Tweeted last night:
RT if you're sick of watching Illinois get blown out on ESPN
— Alex Roux (@a_roux) March 4, 2016
Vitale must really believe in Groce because every time the Illini have been on his network, something embarrassingly unwatchable transpires. I can’t imagine the suits in Bristol are too interested in having the Illini on a lot next season. To be honest though, once it becomes official that Groce is staying, I won’t have much emotion.
As an alumnus, donor and journalist, I’ve mentally checked out this season.
On all three levels I checked out of this season about a month and change ago, and it just seems like a fait accompli that Groce will be back next year; even though his buyout is a very manageable $2.4 million. Perhaps the real, for severe lack of a better word, crime here isn’t Groce keeping his job despite the fact that his team finished 12th in the B1G; just as I predicted in November.
The bigger issue here is just how “meh” I feel about his inevitable return. I’ve been “checked out” for weeks already, maybe I’ll just stay in that state next season too.
The issue being not me individually, I’m just one person, but the fact that so many other alums, media and donors are in the same frame of mind; even more so.
Although I whole-heartedly disagree with Dick Vitale on this, I enthusiastically provide a platform for him to express it. He’s done so much to grow the sport that we all must respect his opinion. I still think if you’re going to make an appeal to keep Groce, you should do it based on his gains in the 2017 recruiting class, as Frank Williams’ kid, Damonte Williams, is a huge get. Basing your case on “well, injuries happened” just does not fly with me.
Follow Dick Vitale on Twitter @DickieV
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram