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Illinois Basketball: 5 changes since John Groce was fired

By Rees Woodcock

Dec 21, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; The Illinois Fighting Illini cheerleaders run on the court before a basketball game against the Missouri Tigers at Scottrade Center. Illinois won 75-66. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 21, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; The Illinois Fighting Illini cheerleaders run on the court before a basketball game against the Missouri Tigers at Scottrade Center. Illinois won 75-66. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /
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Illinois basketball
Dec 21, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; The Illinois Fighting Illini cheerleaders run on the court before a basketball game against the Missouri Tigers at Scottrade Center. Illinois won 75-66. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /

The Illinois basketball program has gone through some changes over the past month.

What kicked off the past month of craziness was the firing of head coach John Groce. This happened on March 11 and since then the program has changed drastically and in a good way.

When a program loses a head coach things could be a little hectic. This wasn’t the case with the Illinois basketball team, though. They really pulled together and made a nice little run in the NIT. Of course, this was under interim head coach Jamall Walker.

I was happy to see what Walker could do and to see if he could motivate this team more than the previous regime. That actually happened for a little while. The win against Boise State was fun to watch and the team seemed to really fight hard.

The post-Groce era has been strange. The last month went by fast and there have been so many changes that next season this team will look completely different. That might not be a bad thing, though.

There were five big changes to this team that will affect the future. Here are the five big changes to the Illinois basketball program since Groce was fired.

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