AKRON, Ohio -- The celebration of John Groce as the next men's basketball coach for the Akron Zips began with smiles and testimonials from Akron president Matthew J. Wilson and athletic director Larry Wilson before Groce took the podium at the Akron Student Center.
"What a great day,'' Groce began. "God is good."
After being fired at Illinois at the end of the past season, Groce said for his next job he was looking for, "a vision of impact, a vision of excellence.''
Groce also said; "I can assure you I'm a better coach than I was five years ago when I showed up at Illinois."
Williams twice said, "the world is taking notice" of this hire by the Zips, comments of an Akron basketball vision that echoed back to when Dambrot was hired 13 years ago ("we want to be bigger than the MAC")
The one area Akron is clearly looking at most is postseason success, specifically in the NCAA Tournament. That was the one area former coach Keith Dambrot (0-3, NCAA Tournaments) was short of in 13 seasons.
But that's at the top of Groce's achievement list. Over nine seasons split between Ohio University and Illinois, Groce has made three trips to the NCAA Tournament, building a 4-3 record overall.
That includes two times at OU after winning the Mid-American Conference Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena in 2010 and 2012. Speaking of his son, Connor, Groce said: "He loves the Q. He's been up on that ladder (cutting down the nets) before."
This came on the heels of Wilson saying of Groce: "He is passionate about winning. A proven track record in the regular season."
Overall, Groce was 85-56 at Ohio and 95-75 at Illinois. But his conference record was only 34-30 at Ohio with no finish higher than third-place, and 37-53 at Illinois with no finish higher than seventh.
Before becoming head coach at Ohio, Groce was an assistant at Ohio State and Xavier.
"The majority of my coaching career has been in the state of Ohio,'' Groce, 45, said.
Wilson said Groce's six-year contract will start at $350,000 the first two seasons then escalate from there based on industry standards. If that seems low, it's because Groce is also sitting on the final two years of his Illinois contract, which reportedly has $1.7 million left on it.
Williams also addressed the issue of player retention. While several current Zips have issued internet announcements they are going to transfer, including point guard Antino Jackson, all have to be released by the Zips first.
According to Williams, no releases will be granted until the players have had conversations with Groce. And even then the standard form will state no transfer will be allowed to another program in the MAC.
Also, it is not uncommon in the industry to deny release to any program that is believed to have tampered with (encouraged) a player to leave one program for another.
Finally, despite a string of player offenses, suspensions and arrests from Ohio to Illinois under Groce, Wilson and Williams said that was not indicative of a problem, or reason for concern at Akron.
"Quite candidly, I think his character is as solid as anybody's,'' Williams said. "And educating young men, he relies on that character in every situation. I don't view him as a high risk taker."