CHAMPAIGN – John Groce squinted into the sunlight shining in his eyes through a window at Illinois’ basketball media day, joking that he meant to have an assistant coach cut his already closely shorn hair on his bald head so the “glare would be even brighter.”

The setting sun on a fall day is nothing compared to the intensity of watchful eyes that will be cast upon his basketball program in less than a month.

While Illini fans are discouraged after missing out on two of the last three NCAA tournaments and the football team has done nothing to cure an overall damper on the athletic environment at Illinois, all attention in Champaign will be on Groce’s first team.