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Ohio Basketball

Topic: Coach Groce - Class Act

Topic: Coach Groce - Class Act

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97' Bobcat
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Member Since: 1/10/2007
Post Count: 36

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Coach Groce - Class Act

Posted: 12/31/2011 5:07:15 PM

I wanted to share an experience our family had yesterday with the OU athletic department and specifically, Coach Groce.

My wife and I are alums and we have two young kids that we are rearing to be future Bobcats. We decided to make the trip from Cleveland to see the OU v Kennesaw State game. Two days before we left, I emailed the athletic department to see if we could take our family on a tour of the Convo and Peden stadium. With school on break (and with short notice) I thought it was not likely we would get a response to our request. But to my surprise, an intern in the Sports Ad department contacted us right away to meet with us.

So yesterday, after touring Peden, we came back to the Convo right as the men's team was finishing up their pre-game practice yesterday. We quietly sat in some seats to watch the final two minutes of practice. Coach Groce saw us and walked over and introduced himself. He said that practice was ending in soon and he would be happy to take our family photo with the entire team. The kids (and me) thought it was really cool, and I was shocked that he would initiate something like that when we clearly were invading a private moment with the team. He talked to us for a couple minutes, and we wished the team good luck.

We had a great time at the game. After the win, I was pleasantly surprised to see how Coach Groce personally approached the fans after the win to thank them for coming and he again shook our hand as we were in the front row.
Kudos to the Athletic Department for being some accomodating to us, and for Coach Groce for just being a really nice guy.

Mike Bundt WHIZ
General User

Member Since: 12/11/2010
Location: West Seneca, NY
Post Count: 274

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RE: Coach Groce - Class Act

Posted: 12/31/2011 6:40:16 PM

That's a great story. Thanks for posting it.

Coach Groce is a quality person and I'm glad that he's coaching here at Ohio University.

mcbin
General User

Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Columbus, OH
Post Count: 951

Status: Offline

RE: Coach Groce - Class Act

Posted: 12/31/2011 10:46:11 PM

+1 good stuff

cc-cat
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Member Since: 4/5/2006
Location: matthews, NC
Post Count: 3,948

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RE: Coach Groce - Class Act

Posted: 12/31/2011 11:18:38 PM

Putting aside Solich's incident, I think we have to great representatives of the University.

Bball Jones
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Member Since: 10/23/2010
Post Count: 128

Status: Offline

RE: Coach Groce - Class Act

Posted: 1/1/2012 11:34:13 AM

Not surprised!

PutnamField
General User

Member Since: 9/20/2007
Location: Athens, OH
Post Count: 303

Status: Offline

RE: Coach Groce - Class Act

Posted: 1/1/2012 2:11:24 PM

You can also tell a few things from somebody's spouse, and reliable sources tell me that Allison Groce is a really nice woman.

Alan Swank
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Member Since: 12/11/2004
Location: Athens, OH
Post Count: 7,221

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RE: Coach Groce - Class Act

Posted: 1/1/2012 3:23:16 PM

PutnamField wrote:

You can also tell a few things from somebody's spouse, and reliable sources tell me that Allison Groce is a really nice woman.

What she has done and what her predecessors failed to do is get involved in the community. Whether it's entering her chili in the annual Chili Bowl cook off or serving as one of the host homes for the Athens Foundations Key event fundraiser (host homes were matched with a local chefs to raise over $30,000), she has been very visible since they rolled into Athens. The same can be said for the other coaches wives too. This was a very good hire for OU.

OhioCatFan
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Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Athens, OH
Post Count: 14,762

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RE: Coach Groce - Class Act

Posted: 1/1/2012 4:47:25 PM

Agree on Groce and Mrs. Groce. Good points, PF and Al.

Also, I should point out that Mary Hunter was also involved heavily in the community. And, our Fan-in-Chief's wife, Deborah McDavis, is involved in community activities as is Priscilla Schaus. Hmm . . . who am I leaving out here? Who was that guy between Hunter and Groce?

Last Edited: 1/1/2012 8:36:31 PM by OhioCatFan

The only BLSS Certified Hypocrite on BA

"It is better to be an optimist and be proven a fool than to be a pessimist and be proven right."

Note: My avatar is the national colors of the 78th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry, which are now preserved in a climate controlled vault at the Ohio History Connection. Learn more about the old 78th at: http://www.78ohio.org

Speaker of Truth
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Member Since: 1/26/2011
Post Count: 441

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RE: Coach Groce - Class Act

Posted: 1/1/2012 5:23:20 PM

Good to also see the Sports Ad program involvement, one of OU's best programs.

Mark Lembright '85
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Member Since: 8/22/2010
Location: Highland Heights, OH
Post Count: 2,460

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RE: Coach Groce - Class Act

Posted: 1/1/2012 8:18:16 PM

I know that the "academia types" at Ohio don't want to hear it, but Ohio has a lot of first class people running the Athletic Dept. Quick story-last year my dad and sister (also Ohio graduates) visited the Ohio Caravan when it stopped in the Montgomery Inn in Cinci. They got there a little late, saw there were no seats and were about to leave when Jim Schaus saw them leaving. He immediately got up from his front row seat and gave it and the seat next to him to them as he stood for the rest of the presentations. I'm sure it was no big deal to Mr. Schaus but it sure meant a lot to my dad and sister.

As I'm sure we've all said before, I am always proud to be an Ohio alumnus but I've never been more so than in the last couple of years.

Last Edited: 1/1/2012 10:26:08 PM by Mark Lembright '85

bornacatfan
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Member Since: 8/3/2006
Post Count: 5,716

Status: Offline

RE: Coach Groce - Class Act

Posted: 1/1/2012 10:50:51 PM

Must be a little bit of that Hoosier hospitality we are raised with. Coach, wife and AD all grew up here in the heartland.... I even think a lil bit of it must have rubbed off on oldkatz while he was here.

never argue with idiots, they bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Winter comes and asks how you spent your summer.....

The game loves and rewards those who love and reward the game

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