 John Groce (far right) will be named Ohio's new head coach With the 2008-2009 season fast approaching, the Bobcats moved swiftly in naming a successor to Tim O'Shea just five days after O'Shea was officially named the new head basketball coach at Bryant University which is transitioning from Division II to Division I.
Groce comes to the Bobcats having established a reputation as one of the top up-and-coming young assistants in the nation and is respected both as a strong in-game strategist and for his recruiting acumen, especially in the State of Indiana where he has been instrumental in landing several key Buckeyes' recruits out of his home state, most notably Greg Oden.
This will be the first head-coaching job for Groce who has spent the past fifteen seasons as an assistant, having started his collegiate coaching career in 1993 at his alma mater, Taylor University in Upland, Indiana where, as a player, he was a key member of a squad that compiled a 34-4 record and advanced to the NAIA Final Four in 1991.
During his time on the bench at the NAIA school, Groce was part of a staff that compiled a 71-28 mark which included leading Taylor to a number one ranking in 1994.
Groce moved onto the NCAA Division One coaching ranks as part of Herb Sendek's staff at North Carolina State in 1996 where he remained until 2000, helping the Wolfpack to four straight postseason appearances before joining the coaching staff at Butler, helping the Bulldogs to a Mid-Continent title in 2001.
Groce followed Thad Matta to Xavier and was part of a Musketeers staff that made three postseason appearances, including a trip to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament in 2004.
Following Matta once again, Groce moved onto Ohio State in 2004 which recorded back-to-back Big Ten titles during Groce's tenure as an assistant, including an appearance in the 2007 National Championship.
The 36-year old Groce has made fourteen postseason appearances in fifteen years as an assistant coach. |
