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UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE


March 29, 2012


John Groce

Mike Thomas


THE MODERATOR:  Good afternoon, everybody.  We are here for a very special day.  Like I said, this is two days in a row we get to have a fun press conference.  So we'll get started.  I'll introduce director of athletics, Mike Thomas.
MIKE THOMAS:  Thanks to all of you for being in attendance here today.  First off, I want to make sure that I thank, I don't know if Jerrance Howard is here, our interim basketball coach.  Jerrance has done an outstanding job during the transition period.  Let's give Jerrance a nice hand.
I want to thank the best basketball kids in the country.  I know a couple are here today.  D.J. Richardson and Tyler, thank you.  I don't know if anyone else is here from the team, but these guys and these student‑athletes certainly are a pleasure, and make me proud to be their director of athletics.
A few introductions:  Our first five‑star recruit of the year, and I'm sure soon to be named rookie of the year, and Chancellor Phyllis Wise, and those individuals who were part of the search committee, some of them standing over by Chancellor Wise, Mike DeLorenzo from the Chancellor's office, Chris Span, a faculty athletic rep, and Jason Lener.  I think Jason's around here somewhere, deputy athletic director who oversees the daily operations of our men's basketball program.
Also, I know that our new head coach will introduce his family.  Part of his family is up here, Allison, donning the orange.  She's a quick study, and Conner, and I know Camden's here somewhere.
Anyway, this is an exciting day for the University of Illinois and our men's basketball program.  Most people, the first question they would ask is why John Groce.  Now if you were here yesterday or over at the Hall of Fame, we announced our new women's basketball coach, Matt Bollant.  I don't know.  Let's give Matt a nice round.
So if you ask why Matt Bollant or you want to ask why John Groce, it's obvious my first criteria is the coach can't have more hair than me.  But in all seriousness, Coach Groce certainly has a tremendous record of success, competitive success.  He's an outstanding recruiter.
If you look that he spent almost his whole basketball life in the midwest as part of the Big Ten fabric, he is really in so many ways his pedigree and the coaches that he's worked with, whether it's Thad Matta or Sean Miller, you can go on and on and on, Herb Sendek, he's had great mentors and worked side by side with some of the best coaches in the country.
I tell you, he has a lot of energy, a great deal of energy.  I have said that already three times this year, so I know one thing, if I'm going to participate in the Illinois marathon relay, if I'm the anchor leg with Coach Beckman, Coach Bollant and Coach Groce, I'm going to be able to breeze on the way home with the gold medal.
So tremendous energy and someone who I'm excited about as the next head men's basketball coach at the University of Illinois.
So at this point in time I'm going to introduce our new coach, John Groce.  John?
COACH GROCE:  Thank you, Mike.  Appreciate it, thank you.  Obviously our family is excited to be a part of this once‑in‑a‑lifetime opportunity, and I really mean that.  I'll talk more about that as we go along.
But before we dive into Illinois, I do want to thank Ohio University.  I want to thank the president there, Dr.Roderick McDavis, director of athletics Jim Schaus, as well as the board of trustees there, the Athens community and most importantly, the players, who have a big part of why this opportunity exists for my family, and I can't thank them enough.  I love those kids, and they'll always be a part of our family.
But, again, back to that once‑in‑a‑lifetime opportunity.  I can't explain to you what the last few days have been like, the chance to be standing up here before you.  From a fit perspective, I just, as I looked at it, and looked at it for my family, being a guy from Danville, Indiana, about 107 miles, I mapquested it door to door, Route 36 here to Assembly Hall.
It's hard to believe.  As a kid, I grew up watching Big Ten basketball, obviously, growing up right outside Indianapolis in Danville.  I remember watching Big Ten games on TV, and coaches shows, and listening to Big Ten games on my grandmother's transistor radio.
I remember someone asked me the most vivid memory that I maybe had of Illinois basketball.  It was of the Flying Illini.  I remember watching the game on television as vividly as I'm standing here today when Nick Anderson made the half court shot to beat Indiana in Bloomington.  I remember how athletic and truly flying up and down the court that team was, obviously its trip to the Final Four.
I think of the '05 team when I was at another school in '05, how good those guys were.  I remember a kid that played for us at a time when I was an assistant at Ohio State, saying, "Coach, I'm trying to chase D. Brown off of screens like you told me to, but he's really fast."
So I have some fond memories of Illinois and of Big Ten basketball growing up.  For me, when I mean once‑in‑a‑lifetime opportunity, that's exactly what I meant.  I looked at it and said I'm a little different than everybody else.  This is the first and only job that I interviewed for since I've been at Ohio.
I'm a fit guy.  It was important for me that our family felt like we could plug into a community, be a vibrant part of the community.  My wife's very active and she enjoys that role as are my children, Conner and Camden.  We just felt like this would be a great community not only to grow a basketball program but to also raise our family.  So that fit was really important.
The second thing that stood out to me was that I thought to myself Illinois, why not?  Why can't we become the standard of excellence or a standard of excellence amongst those teams in the Big Ten competing for championships, earning the right to do that?  By doing that, then you become a player on the national stage.  You become a byproduct of that.  Why can't we do that consistently there?  The answer was we can.  I kept thinking through that over and over the last two to three days.
So the combination of the potential here at the University of Illinois with the fit made it that once‑in‑a‑lifetime opportunity phrase that I used with you to begin our conversation here today.
Before I answer questions, I want to recognize some people, obviously, a very important part of the process is Dr.Easter, our president.  Dr.Wise, our chancellor, Mike Thomas, our athletic director, the board of trustees, Jason Lener, senior associate, as well as Mike DeLorenzo.  Those guys and people certainly had a lot to do with me standing up here today.
So we're very thankful that they've given our family this wonderful opportunity to be a part of the Illini family.
I've also got a lot of family here who made the drive down Route 36.  They're all down in here and up in here.  I don't have time to introduce you to all of them, because I know you guys have a lot of things to do today, so you don't have an extra hour for me to announce everyone that's here from my hometown.
But my parents are here.  I do want to recognize them, my mother, Barbara Steele, please stand, mom.  My stepfather, Jerry Steele.  Jerry, you want to stand.  My stepmother, Linda Groce, and my father, Larry Groce.  So I do want to recognize them.
Again, thanks for this opportunity.  The last thing I'll leave you with before I answer questions is about in this area, are the benches near here?  Are they on this side?  I'm kind of disoriented here.  Is this right?  This is right here.  I just know a couple times when I've been here as an opposing coach, the Orange Crush made it very difficult to communicate in timeouts.  So we expect you to continue to play that role.
I know we've got one of the best student organizations and fan bases in the country and we're so grateful for that.  And I look forward to interacting with you guys.  Questions, please?

Q.  You talked about a couple of years of basketball with the Flying Illini and the '04‑'05 team.  Those were kind of spurts when this was an elite program.  How do you envision this program?  Do you feel it's possible to maintain those standards of excellence like you talked about?
COACH GROCE:  Well, that's going to be our approach.  It started when I said yes to the job.  There is no question that I think this place, as I mentioned earlier, has tremendous potential.  There's been a lot of great coaches and great players here.  You know that as well as anyone.  You study the history of Illinois basketball and what they've accomplished.  It's a really special place.  There is no doubt about that.
I think about Coach Henson and those teams.  Obviously, Coach Weber did a terrific job as well.  Always thought his teams were very well‑coached as we prepare for them.  I think the challenge is exactly what you just said.  If that would have happened, I wouldn't be standing up here.
The "consistency over greatness" line that Pat Riley is using all the time is what we're all looking for and that's what we want to be about.  That's why I mentioned that vision of being a standard of excellence in our conference.  When you do that on a consistent basis, you get an opportunity to be a player on a national stage regularly.  There is no question that's the vision.
I like the hat.  I'm going to keep wearing the hat.  Kent's just saying that because he and I share the same hairline.

Q.  Coach, clearly there's been a lot of discussion in the Chicago area about your hire and whether or not you have ties or connections with some of the high school coaches in the Chicago area clearly you know the Big Ten how do you envision getting your name out there and getting with these coaches in the Chicago area?
COACH GROCE:  Well, we have previously established relationships that are going to be important.  Obviously, I was fortunate that one of our better players that I coached at Ohio was the kid, Cooper, who was from Chicago.  Then I had the privilege of coaching Evan Turner when I was at Ohio State as an assistant.
Obviously, Chicago's rich in talent, has terrific coaching.  There are a lot of people in that city that care about those kids that we're going to have to work at it to connect with.  Like I said, we have a lot of previously established relationships there, maybe more than what people think.
But I'm looking forward to getting to know those guys even better than what we do, and getting to know some of the coaches there that we need to know better, and we're looking forward to doing that.
So I understand how important that area is.  We're thrilled that Chicago's in our state.  That's great.  I mean, that's excellent.  We've got to make sure that we do the very best job of taking advantage of it, and make sure that the Illinois brand, if you will, is loud and clear in the city of Chicago.

Q.  Have you heard from Thad Matta at all?  I'm assuming he was a mentor of yours.  What has he told you about being a head coach in the Big Ten and do you look forward to being a rival now with your former mentor?
COACH GROCE:  Well, I look forward to competing against him for sure.  I'm a competitive guy.  But he and I are very close friends.  I'll never hide that.  I wouldn't be standing here if it wasn't for him.  He's meant a lot to my career professionally, and he's a really good person first and foremost.
Obviously, our family has benefited from that.  So, yeah, I've talked to him.  I've used him as a resource, for sure, not just in this situation, but in many others.  He's a part of what I call my advisory board and will always be a part of that advisory board.
I know Allison feels the same way about their family.  We're thankful they've been a part of our lives.

Q.  What's the process now for hiring your assistants?  Have you talked to Jerrance at this point?
COACH GROCE:  Not yet.  I'm looking forward to doing that.  Hoping to do that sometime today to get a chance to meet with him and get to know him better.  In terms of the staff, it will take a little bit of a window here.  There will be some guys coming with me from Ohio.  That's in flux a little bit right now based on what happens there with their coaching hire moving forward.
But we're going to try to do that as quickly as we can.  But at the same time we also want to make sure we've got what I call the right people on the bus.  So I don't want to be so quick that we make a rash decision there.  I think people are the most‑‑ people make a place.  I think people make a basketball program or a basketball staff, and so I want to make sure that we're putting the best collection of coaches together.
We owe that to these kids, the guys that are going to be on that bus have got to be guys that are interested, first and foremost, in helping them grow as people, students and players.  That's the type of staff that we're looking for, and that we are persistently going to work to put together.

Q.  It's always tough telling former players of your decision to leave.  How is that decision met when you meet with your players from Ohio?
COACH GROCE:  It was hard, a hard meeting.  Those kids, like I said, I love them.  That will never change.  Those kids mean a lot to me.  That was the hardest part of it.  Someone asked me today what was‑‑ you put a list together when you make a decision like this of pros and cons.  I didn't necessarily do that that formally.  But the one and maybe only con was I had to walk into that meeting this morning and say goodbye to those kids because those kids mean a lot to me and my family.

Q.  Coach, talk about the style of basketball you guys like to play out on the court?  Talk about the current roster and whether they fit your style of basketball and if you can adapt to what they do?
COACH GROCE:  The word I like to use the best is attack.  We're like the boxer.  You'll hear me use this analogy that tries to knock someone out in each of the ten four‑minute rounds.  Then come up for air at the end of the media timeout and swing again.  On the defensive end we play that way.
Offensively, we try to play as fast as we possibly can.  I've had great depth in the past, so I've been fortunate enough that we've had great depth to be able to do that especially the last two years.
In terms of this team, I haven't had a chance to watch film yet.  I saw them play a couple times during the year on TV and passing.  The interesting thing about college basketball is you're so locked in on watching your team, and your team's film or watching the opponent that's coming up next and it seems that games are coming at you every two or three days that I haven't had a chance to study.
I am familiar with a lot of the players because most of them are from the midwest.  I've seen them play on TV a little bit or in a high school or AAU setting, so that helps a little bit.  But I'm not going to prejudge.  I'm going to start working with them.  I'm looking forward to doing that.  And we'll figure out the best style here in year one that fits them that gives them the best chance to be successful.  I think adaptability is important.

Q.  Let me ask you following up about the current players, what do you know about the current players at Illinois and what was your message to them today?
COACH GROCE:  To be honest with you, I want to get to know them a little bit better.  We had some fun in the discussion or meeting, if you want to call it a meeting.  I know you'll get a chance to talk to some of the guys.  But I wanted to let them know that, hey, here's the vision, which we've already talked about.
But most importantly, it's their program.  It's their program, it's a player's program.  I'm a big relationship guy.  I'm anxious to get to know each and every one of them.  We're going to work diligently to do that starting today.
I told them my commitment to them is going to be helping them grow as people, students and players and thinking about helping them do that on a daily basis.  When I wake up every day, that's kind of what makes me tick.  So we talked a little bit about that.  We joked a little bit.
There was some laughter in there.  I know they've been through a lot whenever there is a transition and coaching change.  So I feel their pain, and now I'm here and I'm excited to get to know them better.

Q.  You've climbed the ladder pretty quickly since your time at Taylor.  Talk about those days and how important those were to playing and coaching under Coach Patterson?  How vital those were to who you've become as a coach today?
COACH GROCE:  Instrumental.  The experience at Taylor, in fact, I just told someone the other day, if i had to do it all over again, I'd go right back and do it again.  I think it shaped and molded me into who I am as a person first.  Then as a coach second, also as a husband and a father.  It's something that was an invaluable experience.
Coach Patterson, obviously‑‑ we mentioned Coach Matta already‑‑ and Coach Patterson's the head coach at Taylor University and has been a tremendous mentor to me.  Maybe, other than my parents, has impacted me about as much as any male in my life, so I'm thankful for that.

Q.  What do you think your biggest obstacle is for this coming season?
COACH GROCE:  I'm not sure yet.  I do know this.  You'll find this out about me.  I'm a glass half full guy.  That's been my approach.  It's always been the way that I've kind of been raised and the way I approach things.  So we look at obstacles as opportunities to get better and to grow.
Right now, without having studied it enough, certainly not trying to dodge your question, it's hard for me to critique it and give you the one thing that I think might be our biggest concern or area where we need improvement.  But we'll work hard with these guys.  We'll figure out, and there will be some obstacles.
I shared with them today, that life is 70% stormy and 30% smooth.  How you deal with both determines how successful you are in life.  So we'll figure out what's stormy, what is smooth, and we'll work very, very hard to adapt and put them in the best position to be successful both on and off the court.

Q.  You had success in the NCAA Tournament.  But on the flip side of that, your record in the MAC is a little above .500.  Can you understand why there is skepticism about this hire?
COACH GROCE:  I guess my answer to that would be simply that I'm flattered to be here.  I think it's an honor to be here.  I'm excited about the opportunity to be here, and we're going to work really, really hard to reach the vision that we talked about.
There are always skeptics in everything in life.  That is part of that stormy deal that I just mentioned to you.  If you don't have thick skin in this profession, you're in trouble.  You can't please everybody.  You have to do what's right.
The core values I really believe in are three things:  One, integrity, two is commitment level, and three is unity.  And we'll stick by those three things and encourage our guys to grab ahold of those three values on a daily basis.
There are going to be skeptics.  That's reality, and it's all in how you deal with them.  As I said, we choose to look at the glass as half full.

Q.  I'm sure you want to prove all these skeptics in the Chicago area wrong, and I'm sure all of us in media row would love to document your successes.  Do you prefer having your practices open to the media?
COACH GROCE:  No, because it's a teaching environment.  There will be parts of it that are, because we certainly want to be accessible, and we understand how fanatical the people are about the University of Illinois's basketball program.  We're very grateful for that.  We love that.
But when it comes to teaching, I was a classroom teacher at one point in my life.  I taught.  I think it's important to create an environment where kids can learn the best, and that's our job as coaches to do that.
So it will probably be a little bit of a balance of both.  Will there be carte blanche for every minute of the practice, whoever can come in wants to come in?  I don't think you see that in classroom settings.  To me, as a teacher, and that's what I am, I consider myself a teacher, my job is to create an environment where they can learn the best.  Because of that, we'll have to balance that.
But we'll work with you.  We're excited that everybody's excited about us.  We enjoy that part of it, but I do think there is a balance there when it comes to teaching and creating that environment.

Q.  Do you have an opportunity to recruit?  You've got a scholarship, at least one.  Do you see the ability, and do you have any ideas about‑‑ advanced ideas in terms of recruiting as you've only got a few weeks to do it?
COACH GROCE:  Yeah, I've studied it a little bit more.  Right now when people ask are we still recruiting, my answer's going to be we recruit every day.  Within the rules, we're recruiting 24/7.  Your mind has to be on recruiting constantly.  It's the life blood of your program.  It's what drives results more than anything else.
I am aware of the fact that we have one scholarship, and we'll be examining that very closely.  One thing that I've learned from a lot of my mentors is it's not so much sometimes the guy you don't get, it's who you get.  So we want to make sure that we don't make‑‑ just like the staff‑‑ we're not going to make any rash decisions about who we add to the bus.  To our bus that's driving in the direction that we want it to go.
So we'll have to study that a little bit more in terms of need.  I think I'll know more once a get a chance to watch film and spend some more time with our guys here over the next few weeks working them out.

Q.  You said you grew up 107 miles east of here.  Does that make you a Hoosier?  How do you describe yourself?
COACH GROCE:  You're going to put me on the spot, huh?  Well, when I grew up, and you guys can boo her right now, if you want.  But my wife is actually an Indiana graduate.  But I did have a lot of respect for that program and what they're doing right now.  But when I was a kid, if you asked me who I rooted for as a kid, I rooted for Indiana when I was a kid, when I was younger.
You can blame that on, God rest her soul, my grandmother.  I didn't have any choice, so you can blame that on her.

Q.  You said you couldn't explain the last two days.  Can you try and kind of fill us in on what happened the last two days?
COACH GROCE:  It moved very quickly.  We played in the tournament through Friday.  We got back in in Athens on Saturday.  Had a chance to decompress a little bit Sunday was reached.  Monday interviewed.  Tuesday/Wednesday negotiations.  Wednesday offered.  Wednesday took.  Is that concise for you?

Q.  You talked about your style of play and offense.  Is there a certain type of player that you'll be looking to recruit in your system, whether it's athletic style, whether it's a Top 10 kid who is one and done, a four‑year college player, or a mix of the two?
COACH GROCE:  Well, we're going to try to get the very best players that we possibly can that are Illinois guys.  Now I could stand up here for an hour explaining to you in detail from just‑‑ they've got to show me that they have a desire to earn a degree.  That would be one, okay.  Work ethic, toughness.
Then, obviously, there are things aside from that, those generalities that fit specific positions that we're looking for as well.  Because we play fast or faster, as I mentioned earlier, athleticism is important, link is mote important, motor is important, playing with energy is important for us and how we play.
We like to attack the paint via the pass or the dribble.  Whether that's with a great post player or guys that can deck the ball and get into the paint.  We utilize the three‑point shot on offense.  Defensively, we like to force turnovers with our athleticism and length.  That gives you a chance to get easy baskets at the other end.  So those are just some of the bullet points without going on and on and on of things that I think are important characteristics.
I love the quote by Bill Cowher of the Steelers when asked one time who makes the Steelers team?  He said, "Steelers guys make the Steelers team."  So the one thing about us is we have a real plan about who we're recruiting and why.  And I'll always ask the staff, Is that an Illinois guy?  And they've got to be able to tell me or in my own observation, why or why not in certain categories or criteria that's important.
So we want to make sure that Illinois guys are on the Illinois team.

Q.  There's a lot of interest in Meyers Leonard and what is going to become of him.  I know you just got here, but do you have plans to talk to him and do you have feel for his status?
COACH GROCE:  I absolutely have plans to talk to him, as I'm going to talk to all of the players.  I'm anxious to get to know all of them better.  I'm going to spend some time with him and the other guys here the rest of the day to day and/or tomorrow.  I'll have a better feel for that at that point.

Q.  Did Ohio make you a firm offer to raise your salary or do something to try to entice you to stay?
COACH GROCE:  Yes, they did everything they could.  Dr.Rod ‑‑  I call him Dr.Rod, Dr.McDavis and Jim Schaus really worked hard to give our family an opportunity to stay, and we certainly enjoyed the community and enjoyed our time at the University.  But at the end of the day, it came back to the once‑in‑a‑lifetime opportunity and the fit, is what it came back to.

Q.  Can you talk about what kind of raise you would have gotten if you had stayed there?
COACH GROCE:  I'm going to stay away from that in respect to them.  But knowing how everything is these days, if you read a couple newspapers articles or two in Athens, you'll probably get the information you so desire.  That won't necessarily be right, but it will get you close, maybe.

Q.  Coach Groce, Coach Bollant, welcome to the Illini family?
COACH GROCE:  Thank you.  I appreciate it.  Thank you guys for your time.

Q.  Mike, can you tell us about the contract, the length of it, and the amount?
MIKE THOMAS:  It's a five‑year contract, its base pay is $400,000 with a supplemental compensation of $1 million.  So the guaranteed contractor annual compensation is $1.4 million, and as I said, it's for five years.

Q.  Is there one overriding factor of Coach Groce that drew you to him in this process?
MIKE THOMAS:  I don't think it was necessarily one factor, Paul.  But when you look at the total make‑up of a coach, and as I've said it before, their competitive success and even where that competitive success has happened, there were even questions about his regular season record.  And I think we'd all agree, when you look at programs that you've inherited and sometimes people inherit programs that are at a better place, which might contribute to having greater success early on at those kinds of programs.  But the mark of success, obviously, is the kind of success that you have at the end of the year, and knowing the kind of programs that Ohio U had when it counted most two of the last three seasons.
Certainly he's an outstanding recruiter.  As Coach Groce said, there are a lot of great coaches out there that don't have players, and you see it's reflected in their record.  You've got to get players, and it's important not only to get players, but somebody that understands the geographic footprint and how to recruit in the Big Ten Conference which, no doubt, at Ohio State with Thad Matta they were recruiting high‑level players that we'd love to have at the University of Illinois.
As Coach Groce also said, it's about fit.  I think we'd all agree you want to have somebody that wants to be here.  He's excited about being here.  His life, for the most part, other than a little bit of time spent in Raleigh, has been in the midwest.  He understands the culture.  He understands his conference.  He'll understand champagne and be a big part of it.  I truly believe he'll be a big success.

Q.  We've just heard the coach's run down of the last few days.  Why don't you give us a rundown of the last two weeks?
MIKE THOMAS:  Well, it's been a very thorough and comprehensive process.  As you know, we engage the services of a search firm.  We had a search committee.  With all processes you have a list that you begin to work with.  That list gets tweaked.  As the process get goes along, you identify the candidates, engage their interests, figure out who has mutual interests, and you go down that path.
Before you know it, you're going through a negotiation process, which started in the last couple days.  Going through the thorough background checks which are part of that that our search firm went through that process for us.
Then at the end of the day, you're ending up at a press conference like this.  So for me the process played out according to plan, and I feel good about the end result.

Q.  When you're in the process, is it correct to contact a coach before his season is over?  Do you feel you need to wait 24 to 48 hours before making more than just background checks on a coach in terms of his playing season?
MIKE THOMAS:  Is it correct?  Well, I'm sure there are people who contact coaches before their seasons come to conclusion.  I'm not one of those people because I certainly believe in that.  I know if I was sitting on the other side, I would want that respect from others who are out looking for coaches.
So that process starts right away.  But different than a football search where everybody regular season‑wise ends in the first week of December, then you can really get that process started and pay attention to a lot of people at one time.  The difference with men's basketball or women's basketball search is that if they're in postseason play, it's kind of a moving target because you're waiting for those coaches to finish now their postseason.  That's why it's a little bit more fluid, and you have to be ready for those that you want to talk to.
When the final whistle is blown, you don't make the call or ring their cell phone when they're walking off the court after that final horn.  But you don't give it much air before you talk to them to begin that process.

Q.  What was the hold up from Tuesday to now?  Because originally we thought there was going to be an announcement, and then there wasn't.  Then reports started swirling that maybe it was a diversity issue, which they then later denied.  Was it hammering out details for the last 48 hours that held the presser up since Tuesday?
MIKE THOMAS:  I'm not sure who said it was supposed to be done on Tuesday or who said it was supposed to be done on Wednesday.  That didn't come from me, and that didn't come from anybody who was very involved in the process.  To say that there was a flaw or hiccup in the process because others thought a decision or a press conference was supposed to happen two days ago, that's not true.
The process played out accordingly.  We actually started the negotiation process on Tuesday.  We completed those last night and are certainly here today to announce our new men's head basketball coach, John Groce.

Q.  I know there was a lot of talk about here in Illinois, and the talk about redoing Assembly Hall.  Where's that process now and what is your plan for upgrading the facilities?
MIKE THOMAS:  The plan for upgrading the facilities.  That's a great question.  An often asked question, but not one lately.  I was part of the discussions with the different coaching candidates, including Coach Groce, but really more with the fact that whoever that person is going to be a key person in this project come to fruition.
We have hired architects and engineers that are putting schematic designs and drawings together.  We're supposed to have those in place this summer, and then we can go out and sell this project, which I'm confident will happen in the near future.

Q.  How much input have you had on how this staff is assembled?  How much do you value having someone with Chicago recruiting ties on the staff, and how important is it to have Jerrance Howard remain on the staff?
MIKE THOMAS:  Well, as Coach Groce said, he has, obviously, an interest in talking to Coach Howard, and he has some ideas on what he would like to see the make‑up of his staff.  I've always been a believer that head coaches should have the latitude to bring in their own assistant coaches.
I do believe from my conversation with Coach Groce, that he will have a staff that has experiences in Chicago and Chicago is important.  Chicago's a critical piece of the puzzle for us to have success in the future.  There is no doubt about that.

Q.  Are you planning on giving Ubben a face lift any time in the future?
MIKE THOMAS:  That's under discussion to tweak Ubben.  I can't tell you what that would look like or what that time line would be.  But at some point in time, that will be part of the plan.  Right now, my number one focus related to facilities is the building we're sitting in right now, Assembly Hall.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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