Champ- Yes, John Groce has hired the next strength and conditioning coach. Expect you'll see his name soon. They wanted to have one in place before the players return June 7-8-ish. Klee

Gene- A "slide" in recruiting rankings has no effect on this staff's perception of a recruit. Rankings mean nothing, and they're usually wrong and influenced by factors and school allegiances, and outside the top 15-20 kids, I would ignore the rankings. The fact Jalen James didn't have a good prep season and spring session would be a concern. But you need a PG in 2013 - if not two. There are others the Illinois staff is pursuing - from Demetrius Jackson (an ideal fit with his toughness) to Tyler Ennis (Illinois is one of five schools he's considering, with Syracuse the team to beat) to Kyle Davis to Monte Morris. And there are others they're looking at. And Nic Moore is a possibility. I expect it will be Illinois or Purdue - unless someone else gets involved. The Illinois State transfer has been on a cruise, so I'm sure his recruitment will heat up in the near future. And he could play at Illinois. You need more PGs. You've needed more PGs for several years. With how John Groce wants to play - fast - that position is recruiting priority No. 1. Klee

Pogo- To answer your question, don't know if he'll improve enough, but I expect he will improve. He wants to get better and works at it. I know that's the first thing big-man coach Dustin Ford told me after working Nnanna - "He wants to get better." You'd be surprised at how often that's not the case, particularly with big guys. Personnel-wise, Egwu and Abrams (stay healthy!) are the two most important pieces to next season. Other options? I think you'll see a four-guard lineup at times next season, with Joe Bertrand playing minutes at the 4. Then you'd have a three-man big man rotation (Egwu, Griffey, McLaurin), with the other bigs spelling them for (short) stretches. Going forward, Benet Academy center Sean O'Mara is one to watch. Plays hard. Big body. He's the third-best big man prospect in the state in 2014, and Alexander and Okafor will be very tough gets. Expect you'll see Illinois' interest in O'Mara continue to rise. Wisconsin is involved there, too. Ohio standout Maverick Morgan (2013) will be on the Illinois campus in early June, as well. Like I wrote on Sunday, there simply aren't many big men going around - that's a familiar refrain among coaches around the Midwest that I've talked to. Klee

Anonymous- Nic Moore can play at Illinois, particularly given your other options. Plays with a swagger. Supremely confident. Size is the concern and always will be. He's small. Watched him in Bloomington-Normal a couple times and didn't think he was 5-9. What sold me was a three-game stretch against postseason teams - Creighton, Ole Miss and Stanford - where Moore averaged 23 points (plus-20 in each game) and made 11 three-pointers. I like the Illinois freshman - especially as people, great group - but there wasn't a freshman on the UI roster that did that against quality competition. Illinois would take him. "Great" addition? I would say quality addition. He would add something they dont have. They're recruiting him and will continue to do so until he chooses his next destination. So we'll see what happens. But yeah, he could help. Klee

Warrior- They like his potential quite a bit. They'll like him even more a year from now. Plays hard. Wants to learn. Needs to improve his hands. Exceedingly sharp, in terms of picking things up. You don't have to tell him twice. And a joy to work with. Haven't enjoyed a player at Illinois more than Nnanna. He will make $1 million some day even if it's out of basketball. Just a sharp guy. Basketball-wise, he's got a ways to go. Egwu regressed last season from November through March. His basketball mentors in Chicago saw the same thing. I know some of his people would like to get him involved with a sort of big-man camp this summer, so we'll see if that develops. And I expect Dustin Ford will be very good for Nnanna Egwu. Nnanna told me the spring workouts were "tremendous" in terms of footwork. The NCAA rule change that allows coaches 8 hours weekly with players during summer school is an advantage, particularly when you have a new staff learning what its new players can and can't do. Klee

Mike- Thanks for writing in. Not sure I understand the specifics of your question, but I'll give it a run. John Groce puts a great deal of responsibility on his assistants. For example, he had no issue heading back to Athens for the Ohio banquet and leaving Isaac Chew in charge of the Caravan stop in Springfield. He trusted Chew could handle it, and he did. In evaluating prospects, he listens to their opinion. Like, actually listens. And he values their opinions. The final decision on a scholarship offer, however, will come from the head coach. You haven't seen this staff shovel out offers to anyone that can dribble. They're going to be frugal with their scholarship offers. Landing Brandon Miller - who could be a top assistant in the Big Ten - in a director of basketball operations spot was a coup. That's an extraordinary get for that position. Miller was part of a Xavier staff that included four future head coaches - Thad Matta (Ohio State), Sean Miller (Arizona), John Groce (Illinois) and Alan Majors (Charlotte). Miller worked with Matta for seven of his eight years as a coach - and Matta has dominated the Big Ten with five titles in seven years. So that experience is a big positive. I know there was a movement to include a former Illini on the staff. And John Groce interviewed Deon Thomas for a spot. But as a coach starting at an Illinois program that has struggled of late, I think he needed to be surrounded by familiar coaches that he knows and trusts. In a few years - perhaps when one of his assistants moves on to another job - you will see a Deon Thomas or Roger Powell as an assistant at Illinois. I expect that will happen. Here's the bottom line for me: I've had two people that I trust - both within the athletic department - tell me in the past week they see Bill Self qualities in John Groce. Specifically in how he works with people and athletes. That's high praise, and these aren't folks that toss it around.

But this staff has a lot of work to do. The first year is really going to be an uphill battle, and this group must make significant improvements if it hopes to make the NCAA tournament against this schedule. Hope that all makes sense - going quickly here. Klee

Pab- It's a very good question. Try my best here. Working with both, I don't see their definitions of "toughness" as being so different. And I think most coaches would have a similar definition. In John Groce's case, he would describe his last Ohio team as being quite tough. Not in a backyard-alley, barfight, beat-you-up kind of way. But in how the Bobcats came back from down 15 points to North Carolina in the Sweet 16. Many teams would've folded. Ohio came back and took the lead. That is a toughness. D.J. Cooper played with a swagger (and challenged opposing fans on his Twitter account, which isn't a bad thing if you back it up) and Walter Offutt came after you. I think it's also a go-get-it toughness. Groce doesn't mind playing with a 6-foot-5 4-man - provided he's a go-getter. They had a guy at Ohio by the name of Jerome Tillman. He was about 6-5, 6-6, played down low and was an All-League kind of guy. Undersized but tough. Jay Bilas did a great piece on toughness a few years ago. I'll look it up. But I hope that helps. Toughness will be attribute No. 1 or 2 when this staff evaluates prospects. Klee