Charleston hiring John Groce, Akron head coach since 2017 | Reports

College of Charleston is hiring Akron Zips head coach John Groce as the Cougars' new head coach, according to multiple reports March 30. Reports from the past weekend indicated that Charleston was targeting Groce. ESPN's Jeff Borzello reported there was mutual interest between Groce and the Cougars.

Former Xavier Musketeers head coach and player Chris Mack, a former St. Xavier High School standout, left the Cougars March 25 to become South Florida's head coach . Longtime XU assistant Dante Jackson left the Muskies to join Mack's USF staff.

Groce, Akron's head coach since 2017, is the half-brother of Miami RedHawks head coach Travis Steele. Groce recently led the Zips to the Mid-American Conference's NCAA Tournament automatic bid, while the RedHawks earned an at-large bid and became the first MAC team to play in the First Four. Groce, an assistant at Xavier from 2001 to 2004, was the head coach at Ohio from 2008 to 2012, and the head coach at Illinois from 2012 to 2017.

In the NCAA Tournament, Groce's 12th-seeded Zips kept it close with No. 5 Texas Tech for 35 minutes in the round of 64. CBS and TNT college basketball analyst Charles Barkley said the RedHawks shouldn't have had to play in the First Four in Dayton, insisting that "it's not their fault everybody in their conference sucks .