John Groce is around good players all the time as the University of Akron men's basketball coach .
Akron (19-7, 11-2) is a contender for the Mid-American Conference championship this season and features a strong senior class led by All-America candidate Enrique Freeman .
"I love my guys," Groce said earlier this month.
There is another guy in a Revere High School uniform who Groce loves even more — his son, Conner Groce .
"For me, this is super enjoyable," John Groce said after watching Conner play against Barberton on Feb. 13. "Unfortunately, with the way the MAC schedule is, I miss most of those opportunities. Whenever I get a chance to see him, it is pretty special, especially when he is a senior. I always try to remind him he is my favorite player. There isn't a player in the world that I enjoy watching play more than him.
"I saw most of the games at the beginning of the year, and then I went through a stretch where I missed seven or eight straight games because of the Tuesday and Friday format in the MAC. Obviously, most of the Ohio High School Athletic Association boys basketball games are Tuesdays and Fridays. We were playing [at Akron], which is a blessing because a lot of those Friday nights we had national television opportunities for our guys, which is huge. This makes me appreciate the times I do get to watch him play even more."
Conner , who is 6-foot and 155 pounds, is averaging 13.1 points this season while shooting 48% from the field, including 43% on 3-pointers, and 82% from the free-throw line. He scored a career-high 22 points in a win over Cuyahoga Falls. Revere is 14-8 entering the OHSAA tournament.
The schedule worked out well for Coach Groce a week ago when he got to see his son Tuesday during a weeklong break in Akron's game schedule.
"Great job, Conner," John Groce said from the stands after Conner took a charge for the second time in a game against Barberton.
"Great cut, great pass," he shouted to Conner and Revere teammates, as they ran their offense.
"Talk, talk, talk," he yelled when Revere was on defense.
John watched eight of Conner's nine games in December, including a win over Barberton on Dec. 8. John left Barberton after the final whistle to travel to Northern Kentucky for a game Dec. 9 that the Zips won.
John had similar situations when Revere won at Copley on Jan. 26 and defeated Tallmadge on Senior Night on Feb. 16. He watched Conner play and then hit the highway for a Zips game, as they played the next day at Miami (Ohio) and Buffalo, respectively.
"John is very supportive," Revere boys basketball coach Dean Rahas said. "He is not a dad that is going to put a lot of pressure on Conner. He doesn't do that. He just sits back and offers his input. He handles it the right way, the way a father should handle it with their son.
"Being that he is a Division I college coach and so forth, he has been great. He and his wife, Allison, have been wonderful, just so supportive of the program and all the boys. They are really good friends of ours, him and his wife and my wife and I."
Rahas said John Groce is helpful with insights about the game and appreciates what Revere's staff does as far game-planning and strategy.
"He is very approachable," Rahas said of Groce. "He is a very personable guy and a great coach."
Conner said he appreciates the guidance from his parents, John and Allison, and how they have helped him develop as a person. He also understands his dad's job pulls him away from some of his games.
"In terms of helping me improve as a person, not only as a basketball player, I feel like he has done an amazing job with how he is a head coach," Conner said of his father. "It is hard for him. He rarely sees me [in recent games]. When he does, he makes the most of it. I feel like he always tries to help me achieve my dreams the best that he can. It really means a lot to me because not only is he a role model to me, he is one of my heroes who I look up to.
"I look forward to maybe even working with him someday or helping out with basketball and doing similar stuff that he does, but I really appreciate all the work that he helps put in to make me a better basketball player and a person."
Allison Groce, is a regular at Revere games, along with the couple's two youngest children, Camden, 14, and Cate, 8. Camden is the manager of Revere's eighth-grade boys basketball team and Cate enjoys gymnastics, dance and basketball.
"John highly respects Conner for his hard work, competitiveness and toughness," Allison said. "Conner also respects his dad for his basketball knowledge, work ethic and competitive drive. They try to fit in individual workouts whenever possible and watch film together during the season.
"They talk about basketball a lot, but John is pretty good about addressing bigger topics relating to being a student athlete, social media issues, getting enough sleep and his faith. We are always watching some college game or NBA game in the house during the season. John likes to point out things that other players do that he thinks Conner should work on."
John has coached all three of his children in youth basketball, including Conner on an AAU team, the Champaign Hawks, when John was the University of Illinois men's basketball coach.
"What I see with him is intelligence," John said of Conner. "He is smart. He is tough. He competes. He works really hard at his game. Those are the most important things to me. Obviously, you want to make every shot. You want his team, most importantly, to win every game. Coach Rahas does a great job with the team. I am rooting for them. The most important thing is your team.
"... The thing I am most proud of is his work capacity, his physical toughness, mental toughness, who he is as a teammate and the fact that he cares about winning and is coachable."
Allison competed in basketball, volleyball, golf, track and field and was a cheerleader at Lawrenceburg High School in Indiana, and then graduated from Indiana University. John competed in basketball, football, tennis and track and field at Danville Community High School in Indiana and then played basketball at Taylor University.
"My mom was No. 22 and my dad was No. 22, and I came here and 22 was retired [to honor Larry Nance Jr. and Pete Nance ]," Conner said. "I couldn't wear 22, so I took my dad's football number. He was a quarterback, also. He wore No. 11, so I took that, and it is a good-fitting jersey, I guess."
Conner Groce was born Jan. 26, 2006, in Columbus, where John was the associate head coach on Thad Matta's staff at Ohio State.
"I always tell him that is one of the greatest days of my life," John said. "We have a lot of joy, our family has, living through him whether he is playing basketball or anything else he might be doing."
Said Allison: "I love to watch Conner play basketball. His passion for the game and desire to be his best shows on and off the court. I really enjoy watching him take a charge and the confidence with which he shoots the ball from any spot. His toughness is obvious watching him on the court. He loves the game and loves to win.
"I think what makes John so special as a coach is his ability to demand respect from his players, which is a difficult thing to do today. His players know and feel his support daily, and they know when he is pushing them it is for their best interest and the best interest of the team. He creates a culture of winning through respect and support, and I think the players take on that same role with their teammates. His intensity is clear when you watch him on the sidelines, but seeing how much he truly loves his job is what I enjoy the most."
The family moved to Athens when John became Ohio University men's basketball coach in 2008. The family relocated to Illinois in 2012 before returning to Ohio in 2017 when John was named Akron's men's basketball coach.
"We moved in when he was in sixth grade, and those guys really welcomed him in with open arms," John said. "This is a great set of kids. This is a great group of seniors and great families. It has been a real blessing for him to be a part of all of this with such a great group of guys."
Conner, who has a 3.6 GPA, said the move back to Ohio was not easy.
"The transfer from Illinois to here was tough," he said. "I feel like that was mostly my childhood. That is where most of my friends were. Once I got here, to be honest, it wasn't easy to make friends at first, but playing basketball gave me a way to communicate with my team, become friends with my teammates, and that led to more relationships, more ties and everything at the school.
"I love our school spirit and everybody is nice to everyone at our school. It is easy to be friends with people. I feel like the team has been the separator for me in terms of getting along with everyone here. I feel like our team chemistry is probably the best in the league with a good group of seniors that we have."
Rahas said he first met John when Groce was on Matta's coaching staff at Ohio State.
"Years ago, I would take my staff and go to Ohio State and watch practice," Rahas said. "That was when they had all those freshmen — Mike Conley Jr., Daequan Cook and Greg Oden [during the 2006-2007 season]. We went and watched them practice for a couple of days and hung out with them. John was an assistant there."
A few years later, when Groce was head coach at Ohio, he visited Revere and talked with Rahas again while recruiting Larry Nance Jr. (who eventually went to Wyoming).
"Here we cross paths again," Rahas said of Groce. "... I remember when Conner came here in sixth grade. Seeing him develop from sixth grade until now is really amazing. He has put in a lot of hard work. He eats and sleeps basketball, he is committed and he is passionate. He puts everything he has into this.
"What more could you want as a coach from your players to just be all in? He doesn't take plays off. He loves basketball and he wants to win."
Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron Zips coach John Groce's son plays basketball at Revere High
