Right Place at the Right Time

I doubt that new Illinois basketball coach John Groce cares he was the seventh choice or even the 53rd choice to become the Illini head man.

The main thing is he got the job.

According to reports, Butler’s Brad Stevens and VCU’s Shaka Smart were above Groce in the pecking row. Smart would have been the sexy hire but like Stevens, Smart has been saying “Thanks, but no-thanks” to various suitors.

The NCAA tournament always produces at least one mid-major coaching star. His team surprises in the tournament and the big boys respond with a job offer. Smart had some carry over from last year’s Final Four appearance and winning a first round game this season.

But Groce was this year’s star. He took a 13-seeded Ohio team to the Sweet 16. Then Ohio lost to North Carolina in overtime.

Groce knows the Big Ten Conference. He was an assistant to Thad Matta at Ohio State. Groce has earned his head coaching jobs after paying dues as a long-time assistant.

Some say Illinois isn’t a great job anyone. But Groce is obviously happy for the opportunity and he hopes to make it a great job.

The way I see it, the Illinois job is a low risk, high reward opportunity for Groce. He’s in the right place at the right time.

The Tale of Three Coaches

Butler’s Brad Stevens, Virginia Commonwealth’s Shaka Smart and Wichita State’s Gregg Marshall were this year’s so called hot coaches.

All three had major success in the recently completed season. Steven’s took the Bulldogs to their second straight championship game. Smart led the Rams to the Final Four. Marshall helped the Shockers to the NIT championship. Yet, all three decided to remain at their mid-major schools.

I find that somewhat hard to believe.

Conventional wisdom says a coach should use postseason success as a springboard to more pay and a BCS job. But just maybe these guys didn’t want to go to the bright lights and start over. Generally, the reason the job is open in the first place is because of lack of success from the previous coach. And why leave a successful program for the unknown?

Just maybe these guys have learned from the bad experiences of other mid-major coaches.

We have two examples here in the state of Iowa.

Keno Davis led Drake to the NCAA tournament in his first season as coach. He cashed in on that success and moved on to Providence. The trouble was Davis lost his job at the end of this season after only three years.

Greg McDermott was laboring at Iowa State after leading Northern Iowa to three straight NCAA tournaments. The talk was Iowa State would give him one more year. But this had a happy ending for McDermott. Before Iowa State could pull the plug, Creighton offered McDermott a 10-year deal.

So maybe Stevens, Smart and Marshall subscribe to the theory that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

A Curious Hire

North Carolina State finally landed itself a basketball coach yesterday and it was just plain strange.

I have nothing against Mark Gottfried the new coach. I have heard and read he is a good guy. Gottfied had success at Alabama before resigning in the middle of the season. He has been working for ESPN the last two years.

The fact that the Pack hired a coach who had been out of the game for two years tells you something about how low this job has sunk. Virginia Commonwealth’s Shaka Smart turned it down and apparently a host of others.

In another strange twist, athletic director Deb Yow sent an email out to Pack fans the night before Gottfried was hired. She said coaches she talked to about the position said it would take a major revamp job and that fans need to be patient about the search.

Then to top off the strangest of all twists, Yow attacked Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams for in Yow’s words “sabotaging the search.” This happened at Gottfied’s press conference. Yow is a former Maryland athletic director and the two didn’t get along in College Park. Apparently, Yow thought Williams wasn’t saying nice things to potential NC State coaching candidates. Williams, of course, denied this through the Maryland sports information office.

I am wondering if after the sideshow, Gottfried really wants this job. The marriage has gotten off to a rocky start and we haven’t even had time for the honeymoon.

Virginia Commonwealth Tops Wild Basketball Weekend

The Cinderella slipper firmly remains on Virginia Commonwealth’s foot. The Rams refuse to lose.

Virginia Commonwealth took care of No. 1 seeded Kansas Sunday and earned itself a Four Final berth. This is not a misprint. Your eyes are not deceiving you. Virginia Commonwealth is going to the Final Four.

This is one of the best stories in college basketball in a long, long time. The Rams weren’t given much respect entering the tournament. They were selected as a play-in participant. VCU won that opening test and then an amazing five straight games.

The team with a great named-coach (Shaka Smart) will play Butler Saturday in Houston. That in itself is special. Two mid-major schools battling for a trip to the championship game is indeed priceless.

VCU is suddenly the talk of the college basketball world. The Rams are no longer strangers. They have a new bunch of bandwagon fans hoping to cheer them on to the college basketball promise land.

VCU hopes to still be wearing that slipper championship night. Why doubt the Rams now? That slipper looks pretty shiny.