Groce hired at Illinois

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) ? John Groce took the Ohio Bobcats farther in the NCAA tournament than they had been in nearly 50 years.

He will now get a chance to bring that level of success back to a Big Ten team.

An official at the University of Illinois confirmed Thursday that the school has hired Groce as its next men?s basketball coach, replacing the fired Bruce Weber. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the move had not been announced, said Groce will be introduced at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

The 40-year-old Groce has been at Ohio, a Mid-American Conference school, since 2008. He led the Bobcats to the NCAA tournament twice, including a run to the Sweet 16 this year that ended with an overtime loss to North Carolina. The Bobcats hadn?t been that far in the tourney since 1964.

Groce was an assistant with Thad Matta at Butler, Xavier and Ohio State before taking over at Ohio.