My Journey Following John Groce
So, John Groce. Yeah, I remember when his name first popped onto my radar. It was back when he was at Ohio University, you know? They had that run in the tournament, beat Michigan I think. It was exciting stuff. Made you pay attention. I thought, okay, this guy’s got something.
Then he got the Illinois job. Big Ten. Big deal. I live not too far from Champaign, so I was actually kinda hyped. Thought maybe things were gonna turn around for the Illini program. High hopes, you know? Like a lot of people, probably. I even went to a couple of games that first season.
Watching those Illinois teams under him was… well, it was a rollercoaster. Sometimes you’d see flashes, moments where you thought, “Okay, here we go!” They’d play tough defense, hit some shots. But then other times, man, it was just frustrating. Felt like they couldn’t close out games, or the offense would just stall completely. I remember sitting in the stands for one game, I forget who they played, just shaking my head. It felt like they were always almost there, but not quite.
- Lots of close games they couldn’t pull out.
- Offense sometimes looked real stagnant.
- You could see the effort, but the results weren’t always matching.
The whole thing there just never seemed to fully click, at least from my seat. Expectations were sky-high, maybe unfairly high, but that’s the Big Ten for you. When they eventually let him go, I wasn’t exactly shocked. Disappointed, maybe, because you always hope for success, but not surprised. It just felt like the writing had been on the wall for a while. It’s tough seeing someone lose their job, but sports are brutal that way.
Then he landed at Akron. Mid-major again. Honestly, I kinda lost track for a bit. Life gets busy. But I checked back in now and then. Seems like he’s done okay there, found a level where maybe the pressure isn’t quite as intense as the Big Ten furnace. They’ve won their conference, gone dancing. Good for him, really.
It’s funny how you follow these coaches’ careers. You get invested, you have opinions, you ride the highs and lows with them, even just as a fan watching from afar. Sometimes it feels like you’re watching someone try to fit a square peg in a round hole, and other times things just seem to line up perfectly. It definitely made me think about expectations, not just in sports, but kinda everywhere. Like, how much pressure is too much? When do you know if something just isn’t the right fit?
Anyway, that’s just my rambling take on following the John Groce story. Not an expert analysis, just the stuff I remember thinking and feeling along the way. Still watch college hoops, still got opinions, but maybe with a little more perspective now on how tough that coaching gig really is.
