The introduced its new basketball coach today. comes to Akron after spending the past decade at Ohio University and Illinois, where he notched a combined four NCAA tournament wins.
WKSU sports commentator Terry Pluto says Groce will be a good fit in Akron, since he鈥檚 had some success in the Mid-American Conference, and he knows the Midwest.
鈥淗e grew up in Indiana; these are his roots. When he goes and walks into local high schools and talks to summer coaches, they know who he is already. That鈥檚 a big deal because when he comes in here, he鈥檚 going to be expected to win.鈥�
Pluto notes that The Zips had the best regular season in the Mid-American Conference, following three NCAA tournaments under former coach , who's left to coach at He says the challenge for Groce is to sustain the momentum built up by his predecessor.
鈥淔or many years -- 15 years before Keith Dambrot got it going here -- there was nothing close to a post-season like NIT or anything else. Furthermore, they never even got to the Mid-American Conference championship game to lose it!鈥�
Pluto adds that Groce plans to concentrate on re-recruiting the Zips鈥� roster, since college players are often tempted to transfer after a coach leaves.
