John Groce's first year as a coach was like any other freshman season - filled with ups and downs.
The former Buckeye assistant had a topsy-turvy first season with Ohio, which included wins over Tulsa and Akron and two wins over Miami. But the Bobcats were bounced in the second round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament and finished last in the MAC East Division.
Fans and the media have, for the most part, avoided criticizing the first-year Ohio coach.
And rightly so.
Like every first-year coach, Groce needs more than one season to prove his worth. He has not had long enough to implement his system nor recruit his own players. The fact that he had less than a year to prepare his team made the situation even tougher.
Groce said in his end-of-the-year press conference that he needed to take some time off before grading himself. Three weeks have now passed, which is enough time to accurately gauge Groce's first season.
Ohio's performance on the court wasn't stellar, as the team finished under .500 for the first time since 2003-04.
The Bobcats were 15-17 overall. Their 7-9 record in conference play was also the worst since 2003-04. In contrast, Tim O'Shea's first Ohio team finished 17-11 and 11-7 in conference play.
Ohio was sterling at home, but couldn't win outside the Athens city limits, winning just two games on the road.
Making the performance even more puzzling was that, as a whole, the conference had one of its worst years in recent memory.
More than half of the MAC teams finished with a record under .500. The conference finished with the 21st highest RPI out of 32 conferences. In the last five years, the lowest the conference has finished is 16th.
Against the MAC West Division, in which no team finished above .500, Ohio was just 3-3. No other team in the MAC East Division lost more than once to one of those schools.
Granted, the roster wasn't necessarily comprised of players that fit Groce's fast-paced, aggressive style of play.
But Ohio did have good basketball players.
Jerome Tillman finished in a close second to Miami's Michael Bramos for MAC Player of the Year. Michael Allen earned honorable mention honors, and Michael Coleman was named to the MAC All-Freshman Team.
Groce didn't do a great job handling the local media either.
He should rethink his policy of sitting in with players during postgame news conferences.
The media and players had to wait around for upwards of 30 minutes for Groce to finish radio interviews. The Bobcat players also turned into robots that spewed the company line in their coach's presence, which hurt the media's ability to cover the team.
In-depth features like Center of attention
a story done on Leon Williams during his senior season, are not possible now because practices are closed.
But Groce did show an excellent ability to recruit.
D.J. Cooper, a Chicago native, is rated as the 36th best point guard in the Class of 2009 and is the jewel of the class. Marquis Horne of Cincinnati, Reggie Keely of Cleveland and James Kinney of Champaign, Ill., are also highly rated at their positions. Groce also brought in former Indiana guard Armon Bassett.
Kyryl Natyazhko, a 6-foot-10 top-100 recruit according to Rivals.com, visited Ohio for the Bobcats' home game against Miami. Ohio is still one of the seven teams in the running for Natyazhko services, according to the site.
Groce has also done something that no other coach has been able to do at Ohio in nine seasons - sweep Miami.
The RedHawks have had the upper hand in recent years, but Groce helped turn the tables in the Battle of the Bricks.
While Groce should receive a pass for this season, there are some things that should and will change in the future, including the team's win-loss record.
But the one area that is ungradeable to this point is Groce's ability to learn and adapt from mistakes. Here's hoping he passes that area with flying colors.
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Sports
Matt O'Donnell
