Illinois keeps coming up empty in its search for a new basketball coach.
Butler coach Brad Stevens declined an offer by Illinois, and he released a statement Sunday saying he will remain with the Bulldogs.
Illinois was offering Stevens a lucrative contract, similar to what Virginia Commonwealth coach Shaka Smart also turned down, worth about $2.6 million annually, according to Tribune sources.
The search will now focus on Ohio coach John Groce, whose Bobcats lost to North Carolina on Friday in the NCAA tournament's Sweet 16.
Sources told the Tribune that Illinois athletic director Mike Thomas made a serious run at Stevens, working on a package that matched his current contract in length, securing him through 2021-22, and substantially increasing his salary. One source said the price tag was around $21 million for an eight-year contract.
"I am happy and extremely grateful to be the head coach at Butler University," said the statement from Stevens, who led the Bulldogs to the previous two NCAA tournament title games, "and I am already looking forward to next season and the start of our postseason workouts in April."
Thomas has told Illinois' board of trustees he wants to introduce the next Illini coach before leaving for the Final Four. Groce would be the sixth candidate on Thomas' list, following Smart, Alabama's Anthony Grant, Florida State's Leonard Hamilton, Washington's Lorenzo Romar and Stevens.
Groce has Mid-American Conference ties, which falls in line with Thomas' hiring history, and was also known as a strong recruiter when working as an assistant at North Carolina State, Butler, Xavier and Ohio State.
Chicago native D.J. Cooper was overlooked by Illinois — and declined interest from DePaul — to attend Ohio, where he led the team in scoring and appeared in two of the last three NCAA tournaments.
After Smart declined, Thomas targeted other minority candidates before regrouping and focusing on Stevens, sources said. Grant and Hamilton, according to a source, both had reservations about the uncertainty of administrative leadership after President Michael Hogan recently resigned amid scandal.
The board of trustees had emphasized the significance of hiring an African-American coach to Thomas. Two members had voted no on the contract of new football coach Tim Beckman, who is white.
Stevens and Groce are white.
