North Carolina State University Athletics
Sendek Loses Assistant Coach
4/13/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Tony Haynes
John Groce, who joined NC State's coaching staff shortly after Herb Sendek was hired as head coach four years ago, has accepted an offer to become the number one assistant at Butler.
Groce will be working under Thad Matta, who replaced Barry Collier as the Bulldogs head coach last weekend. Collier left Butler to become the new head coach at Nebraska.
Groce, a 1994 graduate of Taylor University in Upland Indiana, has been an integral part of Sendek's staff for the last four years. The Danville, Indiana native was heavily involved in the scouting of opponents as well as organizing Sendek's summer basketball camps. The move to Butler will allow Groce to get out on the road and recruit, something he didn't do at NC State.
"We all celebrate John's opportunity to return to his home state and represent Butler as an assistant coach and off-campus recruiter," said Sendek. "It is especially good that John will be joining head coach Thad Matta, another of my former assistant coaches. Together I know that they will continue the excellence that is synonymous with Butler basketball."
As a player at Taylor, the 28-year old Groce was a point guard and shooting guard and lettered twice. During his college career, the Trojans advanced to the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City three times and compiled an 86-18 record. Taylor advanced to the NAIA Final Four in 1991.
Groce was Danville High School's all-time leading scorer with 1,084 career points. He is one of the few players in Indiana high school history to shoot 50 percent or better from three-point range for three consecutive seasons.
Groce started his coaching career as an assistant at Taylor in 1994.
