John Groce paused, his tongue in his cheek.

He’d just left a locker room of sobbing seniors that he’d never coach again. They’d bought into his system from the moment he set foot on campus, set aside lingering personal feelings from the Bruce Weber era and carried the Illini, in spite of their doubters, to the third round of the NCAA tournament.

He needed a moment.

It took more than a few seconds for Groce to gain his composure and reach for the microphone that lay on the table in front of him in the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. He was still in the process of transitioning his first season as Illinois men’s basketball coach from the here and now to a memory.

The room was hanging on his impending statement. “Couldn’t be more proud of our team throughout the course of the season,” Groce said. “And I thought it was exemplified in full fashion today.”

Brandon Paul, Tyler Griffey and Nnanna Egwu sat beside him, but it was Paul most of all who was deep in thought, doing his best to stay composed. He was reflecting on the game that had just transpired, the Illini’s March 24 loss to Miami. Then, thoughts turned to the end of his collegiate career.

Groce could almost hear him thinking.

“The worst part for me is that I’ve got these guys up here, two of the seniors. I got three more back in my locker room, and we don’t get to go to practice Monday and Tuesday,” Groce said. “That’s the part that’s hardest to swallow.”

Groce considers himself lucky. In his first season at Illinois, he inherited a senior-driven squad with thick skin. His one-day-at-a-time, one-play-at-a-time coaching style might sound cliché, but it proved to be the perfect ingredient for a team at a crossroads after missing the postseason entirely under Weber a year earlier.

That attitude was calming. He’d lift his hand under his chin and drag it across a horizontal plane while opposing teams made their runs during games. It was his message to his players. Stay even keel. Don’t get too high, don’t get too low.

Groce knew from the start that his team would live or die with the jumper. That can be detrimental to a team’s confidence if things go wrong.

At first, Illinois couldn’t miss during its run to a Maui Invitational Tournament Championship and its shocking road win at Gonzaga, prompting a No. 10 ranking heading into the Braggin’ Rights game against Missouri. That worried Groce. He told his team not to believe in its celebrity. Eventually, it’d be on the other side of a run. Another team would shoot 50 percent from the field and 42 percent from the behind the arc against the Illini, just as they’d done in Spokane, Wash., against the Zags.

Still, few anticipated how steep the drop would be. The Illini lost seven of nine games to start conference play and hit a low point on Jan. 12 against the Badgers in Madison, Wis., where they shot 2-for-14 on 3-point attempts and were outrebounded 43-24. in a 74-51 loss.

Just as Groce had predicted, the celebrity wore off. Fans sent abusive, taunting tweets to players. Attitudes shifted. Supporters became doubters. Weber’s final year, and the 2-12 finish that ended his tenure at Illinois, was too vivid, too recent. 

Yet internally, the message remained the same — you’re no big shot, but you’re no slouch either. Don’t get too high or too low. For his team’s own good, Groce banned his players from using social media for the rest of the season.

Entering the Illini’s Feb. 7 game against then-No.1 Indiana, Tyler Griffey had lost his stroke. He was 0 for his last 20 from three, and the Illini had started the Big Ten season 2-7. Reporters incessantly asked whether Griffey’s time would be cut if his shot continued to struggle, but Groce defended his senior.

“I’m going to tell him to keep shooting,” Groce said.

He trusted his forward enough to leave him on the floor for the last 0.9 seconds of the Indiana game. 

The rest is history. Griffey hit a buzzer-beating layup that will live forever in Illinois basketball history. And in the blink of an eye, the Illini’s season had a pulse again.

Their 8-10 finish in a brutally tough Big Ten, paired with their 13-1 nonconference record, was enough to warrant a No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament. And while their run ended in the third round of the NCAA tournament, in front of that microphone at the Erwin Center, the Illini’s 2012-13 campaign was regarded by most as a success. 

For Groce, the loss to Miami was more than just the close of the first step to branding the Illini basketball program as his own. It was a teaching moment for the 13 individuals on his roster. That’s how Groce approached the entire season because it’s embedded in his nature.

Before he dove headfirst into coaching, Groce was a high school math teacher. As he taught his system to his new team throughout the season, the basketball court became his classroom.

But Groce is also methodical in his study and preparation for tests. He and recently departed special assistant Brandon Miller scoured through hours of game film. They routinely paired their findings from watching tape with a wide array of statistics that broke down opponents’ team efficiency and individual player characteristics.

Groce’s love of numbers is well documented, meticulous and obsessive. So much so it’s boiled into his family life.

“I’ve got a 7-year-old son,” Groce said. “So I went to his parent-teacher conference last week, and they told me that he was exceptional with numbers. So to say I was proud would be an understatement.”

Groce is a family guy. His sons, Connor and Camden, often make it into his postgame statements during press conferences. As does his wife, and her knack for running up charges on his credit card while shopping on road trips.

His sons have become huge Illini fans. They frequented games at Assembly Hall with assistant coach Dustin Ford and Miller’s kids, painting I-L-L-I-N-I across their chests on more than one occasion.

A photographer caught one of the more iconic pictures of the Illini basketball season after that Feb. 7 win. With the students surrounding him on the court, Groce belted out a victory cry with Connor in his arms.

Then there was Groce’s Valentine’s Day present to his wife, Allison. Instead of a box of chocolates and roses, Groce took her on a romantic getaway. To New Mexico. On a recruiting trip.

This season hasn’t been easy on Groce or his family, but great basketball programs aren’t born overnight. He understands the commitment and now faces the challenge of bringing in his own guys to fit his system.

On March 29, Weber holdovers Devin Langford, Mike Shaw and Ibby Djimde announced they’d be transferring from the program, opening three scholarships for Groce to offer to transfers or Class of 2014 recruits.

“I wouldn’t say I was surprised,” Groce said of his former players’ decisions. “All three of them, I thought, played their role this past year really well. Sometimes, guys want bigger roles. That doesn’t make them any less of a person or student. Those three guys are terrific in those areas.”

Groce has been on several recruiting trips throughout the season, meeting with top Class of 2014 high school prospects. All the while, Illinois was maxed out on scholarships. Something had to give.

It would seem Groce was almost anticipating the transfers as part of his plan to build the program his way.

His preseason rhetoric to describe his system didn’t fit the product on the court this season. He had to adjust the way he wanted his team to play to the skill sets of the players he inherited. The iconic up-tempo, attacking style of his Ohio teams was hard to translate with seniors like Paul and D.J. Richardson firmly embedded in the rotation. His game plan became dependent on taking and making more 3-point shots than the opponent.

But Groce has made it no secret that he wants more size, almost calling out top-10 class of ’14 recruits and Chicago residents Jahlil Okafor and Cliff Alexander by name after losing to Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament.

“When I was at Ohio State, I ran a lot of plays for Greg Oden,” Groce said. “It’s an unbelievable luxury to have when you have that kind of paint attack, and you have guys that demand double teams and the attention of the perimeter defenders. It really opens some things. We have to kind of develop what we have already down there, and to be honest with you, add some things with our program moving forward through recruiting.”

Groce has a plan. He had to present one for Athletic Director Mike Thomas before he was hired. Now, it’s beginning to unfold. The approval of the Assembly Hall renovation is a giant leap forward. Groce and Thomas shared that dream from the beginning.

Now, it’s up to Groce to fill his cupboard with talent. He’s an accomplished recruiter — famous for recruiting Oden and Mike Conley Jr. to Ohio State — and sought-after prospects believe in him.

“He really loves the game of basketball,” said JaQuan Lyle, ESPN’s No. 16 recruit for the class of ‘14. “He really looks forward to turning this school around. He just talked about me and how great I’d fit into the program. I really agree, but I just have to take my time and see.”

“Recruiting is like shaving,” Groce said. “If you don’t do it every day you’re going to look pretty shabby.”

While Groce may have been planning for the future, he never overlooked this season. He embraced a veteran group — just as they accepted him. He understands what Paul and Richardson have meant to starting his tenure on the right track. He had lunch with both last week to discuss how he can help the two transition to the pros.

Almost instinctually, he tries to teach life as well as basketball. So even in the most emotional of circumstances, Groce led by example. He took a moment to collect himself, then wowed the room.

“Seniors,” Groce said, addressing the tearful group after the Miami game, pausing to quell the tears from streaming down his own face. “I can’t thank you enough for what you guys have done. For the foundation that you laid as we build this thing. I will never, ever be able to repay you for that.”

Ethan can be reached at [email protected] and @AsOfTheSky.