John Groce Speaks About Suspension of Aaron Cosby and Rayvonte Rice
John Groce sits on the sidelines with Aaron Cosby and Rayvonte Rice. (Photo: Rob McColley)
After Saturday's narrow victory over Penn State, Illini men's basketball coach John Groce spoke about the suspensions of Aaron Cosby and Rayvonte Rice, for what he described as a violation of team rules.
Groce compared Cosby and Rice to his young children, adding that sometimes young people need to be steered in the right direction.
“I love all 16 of our guys, I mean it’s no different than raising kids," said Groce,
"Theres times where I love Connor and Camden like no other but theres times where my wife and I may have to give them a consequence.
Doesn’t mean we don’t love them. We’re going to help them, but they gotta make better choices.
They know what the standards are to be a part of this program. Im looking forward to them learning from this, moving forward, making progress and getting reinstated to the lineup.”
Groce did not offer a timeline for the return of either Cosby or Rice.
Both players have missed recent games due to injury.
Rice suffered a broken non-shooting hand on January 5th.
Cosby suffered a retinal tear against Indiana on January 18th.
Both injuries required surgery.
Typically, a "violation of team rules" could mean anything from skipping class to testing positive for substances forbidden by NCAA rules.