Former Illinois Basketball Coach Clinches NCAA Tournament Berth

Former Illinois Basketball Coach Clinches NCAA Tournament Birth

Former Illinois Basketball coach, John Groce, is going dancing. In his seventh season away from the University of Illinois, Groce clinches the NCAA tournament birth with a nail-biting win in the MAC championship. Though the former Illinois coach had a rather mediocre tenure in Champaign, Groce was hard to root against and overall a great person. He has found the appropriate level for himself and is actually doing quite well. In his last 5 seasons, Groce is 66-26 in conference play. He would have had a third NCAA tournament stop if it were not for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before Illinois, Coach Groce was doing similar work at Ohio University.

Z-Z-ZIP THE AKRON ZIPS ARE DANCING AGAIN! WATCH OUT AMERICA BECAUSE THEY HAVE A SCARY DUO.

ALI ALI & ENRIQUE FREEMAN. ONE OF THE BEST TWO-HEADED MONSTERS IN MID-MAJOR BASKETBALL. WHEN THEY’RE HOT, THEY’RE HOT!

LED BY FORMER ILLINOIS HEAD COACH JOHN GROCE, NO ONE WANTS AKRON! pic.twitter.com/81Am5zkCZ5

— Mid-Major Madness (@mid_madness) March 17, 2024

An Era to Forget

John Groce came in as the enthusiastic, up-and-comer from the MAC. For a variety of reasons, Groce’s tenure at Illinois involved a lot of mediocrity and disappointing losses for a program that was brought to the irrelevant by Bruce Weber. Groce certainly swung big with his recruiting efforts, however, a series of “second-places” were the tale and ultimately did the head man in. Despite this, it is safe to say that both sides have prospered since. Brad Underwood has brought Illinois back to a place of relevance. The Illini will play for their second Big Ten Tournament Championship in 4 years and will also play in their fourth straight NCAA Tournament.

It will be interesting though if Illinois clinches a 3 seed and if Akron would be considered a 14 seed, won’t it?

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