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EA SPORTS MAUI INVITATIONALNovember 18, 2012John GroceLAHAINA, HAWAII JAY BILAS: Thanks, Kevin. Our last coach to hear from this morning on the dais is John Groce of Illinois. John is in his first year as the head coach of the Illini. He spent time at Butler as an assistant, at Xavier and Ohio State under Thad Matta, and spent four years at Ohio U as head coach. And I think everybody remembers last year the incredible run they went on in the NCAA Tournament. Winning 29 games, losing only eight, and reaching the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament before losing to North Carolina. John has some outstanding players, is trying to build a program in the image he wants, a team that is tough and plays incredibly hard. And I've known John for a long time and just an outstanding young coach and a really good guy. John. COACH GROCE: Jay, appreciate it. First of all, a great opportunity for our team to be here. We've enjoyed‑‑ we actually came out a little bit early and played at Hawaii on Friday and have enjoyed the hospitality. It's been a terrific experience for our players, trying to balance taking everything in while also getting ready for competition. I think they've done a good job of that. I've got an older team that's very mature. So that's been a good thing. But we've really enjoyed it. This is great for the University of Illinois to be in this event. I remember watching it for‑‑ I thought back when I saw it was on the schedule, a lot like Rick mentioned, you get the job and one of the first things you do, you look at the schedule and you look to see that the Maui Invitational is on there. And I started reminiscing about all the great tournaments, even as a kid, that I watched over the years that have taken place here in Maui. And certainly from the outside looking in and looking forward to experiencing it for myself, personally, you know, it has been the premier college basketball tournament, exempt tournament, preseason, year in and year out. It has been the standard. And so we're just excited to be a part of it. I think it's a special opportunity for Illinois. Our guys are excited to play in it. We have an older team. As many of the coaches have said, we're going to learn a lot here about our team the next three days. We're looking forward to that. As Coach Williams alluded to: We've had some good challenges up to this point, but this takes it to another level and really gives us the opportunity to kind of earmark our team and see where we're at here early. So we're looking forward to the opportunity to compete in the event and we appreciate everyone's hospitality. It's been terrific. JAY BILAS: John, thank you. And thank you to all the coaches for your time this morning. Before we move on to the photo opportunity and the free throw contest, we wanted to have special recognition for someone who has been an extraordinary contributor to the success of the Maui Invitational over the years, and that's the Supervisor of Officials and Coordinator of Officials for this event, Mr.Hank Nichols. Hank was an extraordinary official in his time wearing the whistle and did countless Final Fours, was a tremendous influence on the game. And after his career on the court, he stepped off the court and became the NCAA Supervisor of Officials where he worked tirelessly to standardize officiating across the country, something that hadn't been really attempted before and really moved officiating forward over the course of the years. And he's recently retired as the NCAA Supervisor of Officials, but he's not retired from the game. He still is working here and coordinating the officials for the Maui Invitational, but was just this last year inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for his contributions to the game to take his rightful place with the game's greats. And we wanted to add our thanks and also the thanks of the EA Sports Maui Invitational to the extraordinary contributions not only to this event but to the game for Hank Nichols. Hank. (Applause) FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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