Illinois fires head coach John Groce after five seasons

Illinois has fired head basketball coach John Groce, according to a press release from the university Saturday afternoon.

The decision comes two days after Groce and the Illini lost what many believed to be a bubble elimination game in the second round of the Big Ten tournament against Michigan. The loss likely sent Illinois to the NIT.

Groce spent five seasons at the helm in Champaign. After making the NCAA tournament in his first season, Groce missed the NCAA tournament four seasons in a row. He never once finished with a winning record in the Big Ten.

Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman, who has been in the position for just over a year, made the decision to part ways with Groce, and issued the following statement:

Illinois has fired John Groce as basketball coach. Release is below: pic.twitter.com/95AJfnwN8H

— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) March 11, 2017

“Under his leadership, regrettably, we were not able to sustain the level of competitive excellence that we expect at the University of Illinois,” Whitman said in the statement. “But that should do nothing to detract from the many wonderful things John has done on behalf of Illinois Basketball during his tenure.”

Groce came to Illinois in 2012 after four years at Ohio. Groce had taken the Bobcats to two NCAA tournaments in four years, and in 2012 took the MAC champions to the Sweet 16 with upsets of Michigan and South Florida.

Groce took over for Bruce Weber, who was fired after a Big Ten tournament loss to Iowa in 2012. Weber had taken Illinois to six NCAA tournaments in nine years, and reached the national championship game in 2005. Weber amassed an overall record of 210-101.

Groce’s tenure will end with an overall mark of 95-75. He had plenty of success on the recruiting trail at Illinois, and had talented players like Malcolm Hill at his disposal, but never did enough with that talent to satisfy expectations.

In fact, the argument for keeping Groce around for at least one more year was his incoming 2017 recruiting class, which ranks atop the Big Ten and 11th nationally, per 247 Sports. It includes two four-star recruits and one five-star. The five-star, 6-foot-10 center Jeremiah Tilmon, is widely considered the top player in the state of Illinois in the class.

Quality recruits were nothing new for Groce at Illinois, however. Whitman clearly recognized that, and decided it was worth the risk of losing one or two of the class-of-2017 commitments to start off in a new direction.

Assistant coach Jamall Walker will serve as interim coach for the Illini until a new head coach is hired. Walker will take charge of the team during the upcoming postseason, likely in the NIT.