Does everyone see what Illinois has done with Groce ? A young energetic, personable coach with fire. On and off the court there is a buzz.

ePaul did the exact opposite. That is why this is failing.

They won the Maui beating up a very good Butler team who beat UNC.

How long did it take Groce to recruit studs ? Do they need to give him three years ?

Some of us here are saying Give OP some time, is three years not enough time ?

Wait here's one...Illini wasn't in this bad of a shape as us...

If you think Depaul was in the same shape as Illinois was when Groce took over then there is something wrong with you.

I am not happy with what OP has done so far but lets be real here!

That is not the point. By there standards Illinois was down and made a coaching change. They hire a new coach. Hire big time assistants. Hire a " power staff ". Land a top recruiting class and win a big tournament. That is BUZZ.

What has ePaul done ? Some would say they are worse off .

Every team I've seen play this week looked better than Depaul. Coaches could play the Depaul vs. Western Kentucky game for a coaches clinic for what not to do with a basketball.

rem2190 wrote: If you think Depaul was in the same shape as Illinois was when Groce took over then there is something wrong with you.

I am not happy with what OP has done so far but lets be real here!

 At the beginning of the season I was resigned to the fact that the only way OP was going to improve upon his recruiting was to improve his win/loss record for this year. This season has gotten off to a horrible start and I'm fearful that this could be the beginning of the end for Oliver Purnell.

DJ, a new milestone for you. This is the 500th time you've compared us to Illinois.  How are these illinois comparisons even relevant to us? Given our record, why would anyone consider DePaul if they are offered by Illinois? What is it about DePaul that should attract an elite recruit? Or an elite coach?  Perhaps Loyola is a better peer.

Having said that, yes we all agree we need buzz, and we dont have it.  Wanting it, or bitching that Illinois has it, is not going to get it for us. You should admit that if Groce came to DePaul he might have had the same crappy recruiting success we have had.

thats hard to say b/c Gorce has the reputation as a stud recruiter.  He has been a better recruiter than Op for years (cue the "he's cheating" stuff) and when you listen to him talk yo can see why he does well recruiting.  he has that dynamic personality.  OP is old school, which is not a bad thing, but CBB is beocming different every day. 

Look at what Melvin Nunn had to say abotu Groce's presentation comapred to OP's.  Right or wrong, Groce tells these kids exactly what they want to hear.  It seems like he knows how to relate to todays cbb player which is 90% of the battle

AS i have said, OP wasnt the guy to get us to teh sweet 16.  he was the guy to get us from worst BCS team to .500.  The next coach is the guy to get us back to the s16. AS bad as we have looked, tehre are 3 or 4 BE teams who ahve looked just as bad, if not worse.  I still firmly beleive we can win a handful of BE games, but the team and the approach are flawed for long term success

m5er1 wrote: DJ, a new milestone for you. This is the 500th time you've compared us to Illinois.  How are these illinois comparisons even relevant to us? Given our record, why would anyone consider DePaul if they are offered by Illinois? What is it about DePaul that should attract an elite recruit? Or an elite coach?  Perhaps Loyola is a better peer.

Having said that, yes we all agree we need buzz, and we dont have it.  Wanting it, or bitching that Illinois has it, is not going to get it for us. You should admit that if Groce came to DePaul he might have had the same crappy recruiting success we have had.

DEMONJHOOPS wrote: Does everyone see what Illinois has done with Groce ? A young energetic, personable coach with fire. On and off the court there is a buzz.

ePaul did the exact opposite. That is why this is failing.

It was only a brief meeting but, for what it's worth, I met and talked to OP a couple times and left completely unimpressed each time. The guy is dull and has very little charisma or personality. Everybody has their own way of going about things I guess......... just my two cents.

You are probably right. OP and his "power staff" should be compared to Loyola.

Again I agree. Nothing we can do to create a buzz.. It was up to OP.

Disagree on last point. Groce and many others would recruit and coach better. OP was never known as a recruiter or an x's and o's guy. He did turn around a couple programs but I never understood how that was relevant to DePaul ? Much like comparing Illinois to DePaul doesn't work either does comparing Clemson or Dayton to DePaul.

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--- m5er1 wrote:

DJ, a new milestone for you. This is the 500th time you've compared us to Illinois.  How are these illinois comparisons even relevant to us? Given our record, why would anyone consider DePaul if they are offered by Illinois? What is it about DePaul that should attract an elite recruit? Or an elite coach?  Perhaps Loyola is a better peer.

Having said that, yes we all agree we need buzz, and we dont have it.  Wanting it, or bitching that Illinois has it, is not going to get it for us. You should admit that if Groce came to DePaul he might have had the same crappy recruiting success we have had.

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Mush,

No one is happy with the results here. Don't be a fool.

But the love of God, please do not compare Illinois and DePaul's program over the last 20 years. They are light-years apart!!

Please stop making stupid comments because it makes you look like you know nothing about college hoops!!!

I HATE this program right now...truly hate this program. OP had better fix this ship right now. There are no excuses here.

Was Groce career record in conference play at Ohio. What conf you ask? The freaking MAC. Take away last years sweet 16 and what you have is a avg MM coach. He's always been known as a "stud" recruiter? Lmao!!! Well he must not of coached them up because he never finished higher then 3rd in the MAC. Numbers dot lie, right???? All am saying is easy on crowning Groce. And don't call me a hater. I never started this goofy thread. I'm simply responding to the non sence that Groce is a coaching god.

Three years into to this rebuilding process...What's the BUZZ around in Lincoln Park ? Please help me to understand this ? You need some kinda buzz to progress with recruits.  No buzz no recruits, no recuits no future.

Bubba,


What has OP done? At this point, if I could, I would take Groce in a split second. I can't stand the fact that you are beyond naive. Like I said, your posts are like communist propaganda back home. You must work for the university, or your related to JP....

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--- depaul2003 wrote:

Bubba,


What has OP done? At this point, if I could, I would take Groce in a split second. I can't stand the fact that you are beyond naive. Like I said, your posts are like communist propaganda back home. You must work for the university, or your related to JP....

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What are you talking about???? This thread is about Groce. Nobody said otherwise. I didn't rip nor defend OP. I'm talking about the over reaction to Groce start. And no am not related to JLP. You handle this the way you want and I'll deal with it my way. Naive? Lol. You don't know me dude.

Why take away last year with Groce ?

This is about OP and his lack of success thus far at ePaul. This is not about Groce.

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--- DEMONJHOOPS wrote:

Why take away last year with Groce ?

This is about OP and his lack of success thus far at ePaul. This is not about Groce.

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Could of fooled me. This thread seemed very much to be about Illinois and Groce. And you can keep last season, he's still was a avg MM coach who's team got hot last year.

Bubba, take away one year of OP's at any of his last three stops and what do you have ?

At least Groce won in the tournament can OP say that ?

Besides that, Groce probably played a tough schedule. OP has always played the softest non conference schedule .

This is about Groce and I agree with Bubba. Do not make Groce bigger than life. Look at the total MAC record. He is an average MM coach until proven otherwise. A good coach sustains it over time. Groce has yet to do it. This is not someone defending OP. I expected better than what I have seen. He needs to get things going quick and I am not talking about NCAA tittles. I am talking about being competitive against good competition. By year 3 we should be seing improvement.

as an assistant coach, John Groce went into Indiana and pulled in D. Cook, M Conley, and Greg Oden.  Seems pretty solid if you ask me.  But you are right, he does still have a TON to prove.  problem is, as was stated in the first post, he has created more buzz in 7 months than OP has in 3 years.  Plus he hasbeen able to lure a guy from Chicago.  I think it is perfrectly acceptable to call groce an average mid major coach just the same way OP should be called an average HM coach.  The differnce is, Groce in what year 4, so he is still building what he is as a coach, OP is in year 20 so we know exactly what he is.  Why anyonr is surpirsed is beyond me