Rob Hardin / Chief Photographer / rh124104@ohiou.edu

Newly hired Ohio head basketball coach John Groce acknowledges members of his family in attendance during a press conference earlier today. Groce comes to Ohio after 14 years as an assistant, the last two as associate head coach at Ohio State.

The Ohio men’s basketball team has a new coach just a week after the old one left.

Ohio Athletic Director Jim Schaus introduced former Ohio State assistant John Groce as Ohio’s new basketball coach today at a news conference. Groce, 36, will get a five-year contract worth about $250,000 a year, Schaus said. $50,000 of that will be for for media obligations like post-game interviews and weekly radio shows.

Tim O’Shea, Groce’s predecessor, earned $198,230 last year.

Groce, who has worked as an assistant coach for 14 years, said the timing was right to make the leap to a head coaching job.

“It’s a dream come true to be a head coach at a prestigious university like Ohio University, Groce said.

“This is a perfect fit – this is a perfect match.”

The move to hire Groce came quickly after Tim O’Shea accepted the head coaching position at Bryant University last week. Groce was the first to admit that this past week has been a “whirlwind” and the next 90 days will likely be the same.

He addressed the players for the first time today just an hour before being officially announced as the new head coach. Groce said he wanted to stress to his new players the importance of a family atmosphere and commitment to the university. Senior captain Jerome Tillman said he liked what he heard.

“I’m really excited for my senior year,” Tillman said.

Groce hopes the quick pace of his hiring translates onto the court for the Bobcats. When addressing his style of coaching, he called it “attacking thru adaptability.”

“Were going to attack, I want people saying these guys are hard to play against,” Groce said.

But first, Groce must compile a coaching staff, a task that will begin immediately. While no decisions have been made, Groce added that the staff must complement each other and that he is open to every possible candidate.

“My commitment is to find the very best staff possible here at Ohio University,” Groce said.

Groce’s coaching career began in 1993 when he took an assistant coaching position at his alma mater, Taylor University in Indiana. He made a jump in 1996 when he accepted the same job at North Carolina State.

In 2001, Groce went to Butler University. This marked the beginning of the eight years he spent with Thad Matta, current head coach at Ohio State. A year later he followed Matta to Xavier University where he spent three seasons before his last stop in Columbus.

Groce spent the last two seasons as Matta’s associate head coach at Ohio State. Matta was the one who told Groce about the opening at Ohio and urged him to consider it.

“He told me, ‘it’s not why would you take the job, it’s why wouldn’t you,’” Groce said.