Sports
Mens Basketball: Ohio Loses Two Assistant Coaches
By: Blake Brodie
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More basketball turnover became official Monday afternoon when Illinois head basketball coach John Groce announced the additions of Ohio assistant coaches Dustin Ford and Jamall Walker to his Illini staff.
The move has been expected within Ohio basketball circles since Groce's departure on March 29.
Ford, a four-year starting point guard at Ohio from 1997-01, was the Bobcats top assistant coach and right-hand man of Groce the past four season's where he was primarily in charge of coaching Ohio's post players. Rumblings of him leaving Ohio picked up steam this afternoon when he changed his Twitter avitar from the Ohio Bobcats logo to the Illinois Fighting Illini one. Shortly after the picture change, he made it official by tweeting: "#bobcatnation thanks 4 everything the past 4 years! The program is in great hands and will continue to move forward!" He then tweeted: "Excited for the opportunity and anxious to get to work. Proud to be a part of #illinination".
Walker, a Wichita, Kan., native and a noted recruiter within the Chicago and St. Louis areas, officially accepted his new position last Monday. Walker served under Groce at Ohio as an assistant coach the past three seasons where he specialized in coaching the guards and wings.
With the absence of those two coaches, it means new Bobcats head basketball coach Jim Christian has two assistant coaching spots to fill. The only assistant coach currently remaining on the Ohio staff is Ramon Williams. As of now, the rest of the coaching staff is Aaron Fuss – Director of Basketball Operations, Mark Morris – Graduate Assistant and Dante Jackson – Graduate Assistant.