Akron s Groce, Ohio s Boals top MAC men s hoops coaches in 2020-21 pay
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John Groce, who recently completed his fourth season at the University of Akron, is the Mid-American Conference s highest-paid men s basketball coach at $650,000 annually.
Stan Heath, who led Kent State to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division I men s basketball tournament as a 37-year-old head coach in 2002, is the new coach at Eastern Michigan.
Heath, an Eastern Michigan graduate, takes over for Rob Murphy, whose contract is expiring. Heath, according to the Detroit News, received a five-year deal with a base salary of more than $400,000.
Credit Bill Frack with a major assist
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It doesn’t appear on the season-ending stat sheets and it never made the individual game box scores as the Falcon Men’s Basketball team put together back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in 50 years, challenged for a Mid-American Conference regular-season championship this year, and were poised to make a serious bid for the league’s tournament title.
But the team’s unquestionable assist leader did not wear the uniform, sit on the bench or hang out in the locker room. He was never in the stands as the Falcons fashioned a 21-10 record this season, nor was he there as Bowling Green went 13-2 at the Stroh Center after earlier scoring a signature win over powerhouse Cincinnati in the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam tournament.