New College of Charleston basketball coach understands expectations of program

Nov. 2—Newly hired College of Charleston coach John Groce understands the assignment.The former Akron coach is a student of college basketball history and knows the tradition and expectations that surround the College of Charleston program.After nearly a two-decade drought, the Cougars returned to March Madness three times since 2018, including back-to-back appearances in 2023 and 2024 under former Cougars coach Pat Kelsey."The expectation is to compete for championships, and we're not going to shy away from that," Groce said. "We're going to embrace those expectations. There's a lot that goes into that. You have to have the talent, they have to play together and they have to be disciplined."Early in my career I was a little too result-centric in my philosophy. Now, I'm more of 'Let's get a little bit better today and trust the process kind of coach.' We know what we want the result to be, so we want to do the right thing in a row as many times as we can and form good habits that are necessary to win."One reason Groce was hired was his success in conference tournaments and his ability to get his teams into the NCAA Tournament.Since 2020, the Zips have had five straight 20-win seasons and advanced to March Madness four times, winning the MAC Tournament in 2022, 2024, 2025 and 2026 under Groce."John's resume in conference tournaments speaks for itself," said College of Charleston athletic director Matt Roberts. "When you are in a one-bid league, most seasons will come down to a few days at the conference tournament where John's teams have excelled historically."Like the majority of programs that go through a coaching change, Groce has had to almost revamp the Cougars entire roster from a year ago. The lone returning player who saw significant minutes last season is sophomore forward Martin Kalu, but the German native was limited in practice for much of the summer. Will Mortimore, who missed most of the last season with a concussion, and Djordje Curcic, who played sparingly last year, each are expected to play more this year.Even Groce was surprised at the level of turnover he faced when he took over the job in late March when the Cougars opened their summer workouts in June at TD Arena."This is the first time I've taken a job in the NIL, transfer portal era, so there were a lot of moving parts when we were putting the roster together," Groce said. "We were focused on do they fit our values and then do they fit our system and style of play? It comes down to can we play the way we want to play with this particular player or group of players?"With the departure of Chol Machot and Christian Reeves, two 7-footers, an emphasis was put on getting a rim protector for the program.Enter 7-0 Braden Pierce, a Villanova transfer."Braden is a legitimate 7-footer," Groce said. "I thought that was really important for us to get a post presence."Adding guards Eli Ellis (South Carolina), Max Green (Northwestern) and Xavier Abreu (Northeastern) give the Cougars experienced players in the backcourt."We wanted to find guys that could handle the ball and make plays for themselves and their teammates," Groce said. "I think we were able to add some guys that can do that for us."The Cougars have not been at full strength until recently.Tavari Johnson, a two-time All-MAC first-team selection, followed Groce from Akron and was the tournament MVP a season ago when the Zips advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Johnson, however, was only recently ruled eligible for the current season when an Ohio court ruled against the NCAA last month.Charlotte transfer Ben Bradford, who led the 49ers in scoring last season, has missed a good chunk of the preseason with an injury. Nico Virginio, who is from Varese, Italy, also returned to the court in the Cougars' exhibition game against Furman."That's the first time all three of those guys have played together," Groce said. "It wasn't a normal preseason with the court dates and the injuries, but this group has been awesome to work with. We have quality guys that fit our system."The only issue for Groce has had with this group is their speed of play — or lack thereof. Akron was one of the top-scoring teams in the nation under Groce. The Zips were seventh nationally, scoring 87.9 points a game last season."We're all gas, no brakes," Groce said. "We need to play faster. They think they are playing fast when I don't. I thought we played the way we needed to play against Furman, but against The Citadel and Clemson we didn't play the style we like to play."College of Charleston2025-26 record: 21-11, 14-4 in Coastal Athletic AssociationPostseason: CAA Tournament (lost in first round).Coach: John Groce (377-225 in 18 seasons; first season at CofC).Key losses: G Jlynn Counter (15.7 ppg., 5.0 rpg); C Christian Reeves (11.1 ppg., 7.8 rpg); Connor Hickman (10.8 ppg., 3.3 rpg).Key returnees: G/F Martin Kalu (8.8 ppg., 4.2 rpg); F Will Mortimore (2.6 ppg, 2.1 rpg).Top newcomers: G Ben Bradford (13.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg, Charlotte); G/F Max Green (4.3 ppg, 1.8 rpg, Northwestern); C Braden Pierce (1.3 ppg, 1.0 rpg, Villanova).Key games: Nov. 19 at Drake; Dec. 14 at Belmont; Jan. 28 at UNC Wilmington; Feb. 28 UNC Wilmington.2026-27 CofC ScheduleNOVEMBER2 — Southern Wesleyan, 7:30 p.m.; 6 — Newberry, 7 p.m.; 11 — at Temple, 6:30 p.m.; 15 — S.C. State, 2 p.m.; 19 — at Drake, 7:30 p.m.; 24 — #UTEP, 8:30 p.m.; 25 — #Eastern Michigan/Kennesaw State, TBD; 29 — Howard, 2 p.m.DECEMBER2 — at Charlotte, 8 p.m.; 6 — Davidson, 2 p.m.; 9 — Voorhees, 7 p.m.; 14 — at Belmont, 7:30 p.m.; 18 — Northern Colorado, 7 p.m.; 22 — South Florida, 7 p.m.; 31 — *Northeastern, 4 p.m.JANUARY2 — *North Carolina A&T, 4 p.m.; 7 — *at Drexel, 6 p.m.; 9 — *at Monmouth, 1 p.m.; 14 — *Campbell, 7 p.m.; 16 — *at North Carolina A&T, 2 p.m.; 18 — *Towson, 7 p.m.; 23 — *Elon, 4 p.m.; 28 — *at UNC Wilmington, 6:30 p.m.; 30 — *Hofstra, 2 p.m.FEBRUARY4 — *at Hampton, 7 p.m.; 6 — *at William & Mary, 12 p.m.; 11 — *Stony Brook, 7 p.m.; 18 — *at Hofstra, 7 p.m.; 20 — *at Northeastern, 1 p.m.; 25 — *Hampton, 7 p.m.; 28 — *UNC Wilmington, 4 p.m.MARCH2 — at Campbell, 7 p.m. 6-9 — CAA Tournament, Washington D.C.#Cancun Challenge*Coastal Athletic AssociationReach Andrew Miller at 843-937-5599. Follow him on X @APMILLER_PandC