CHAMPAIGN, Ill. � Another day passed Wednesday without a hire in the search for a replacement for Bruce Weber at Illinois, but Ohio University said it's trying to come up with enough money to see if top Illini target John Groce might stay with the Bobcats.
Illinois athletic director Mike Thomas announced the hiring Wednesday morning of a new women's coach, Matt Bollant from Wisconsin-Green Bay, but declined to say much at all about the search for a men's coach. University spokesman Kent Brown said by late afternoon that no news would be coming Wednesday.
"No change from yesterday or day before," Brown said. "As Mike stated this morning, the process continues to move and when we're ready to make an announcement, we'll have one."
Ohio spokesman Drew Wiseman said administrators there had started to try to put together money for a potential raise for Groce to try to keep him at Ohio. He wasn't sure where the money might come from or even whether administrators would make a firm offer.
"I certainly have no idea when the decision will be made," he said.
Groce is being paid $355,000 this year, including bonuses for the Bobcats' run to the NCAA tournament's round of 16.
A past Bobcat star said in an interview that Ohio should take a shot at keeping Groce.
"Coach Groce was a Big Ten assistant, he's coached in bigger conferences. But I think sometimes you want to keep something going and you want to establish yourself and take yourself to the next plateau," said Gary Trent, who led the Mid-American Conference in scoring three times in the 1990s. "If you give him financial security, it makes it harder for him to rearrange his life."
Weber was fired March 9 after a 17-15 season and several seasons of coaching under pressure ? not just to win but to get better players from basketball-rich Chicago.
The process to replace him has potentially been complicated by the unexpected resignation last week of university President Michael Hogan and objections by two university trustees earlier this year to the fact that Illinois has never had a black head football or head men's basketball coach.
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Associated Press writer Joe Kay contributed from Cincinnati.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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