Career: In his 83-game career at Eastern (27 as a starter) he averaged 7.9 points, 4.2 boards and has 62 blocked shots to rank 11th in EWU history, while sinking 54.7 percent from the field. He had 11 double-doubles in his career (10-1 record). He had a total of 31 career games scoring in double figures (six with at least 20) and rebounded in double figures on 11 occasions. He led Eastern in single games in scoring (10 times), rebounding (15), blocked shots (25), steals (3) and assists (1).
NCAA Tournament Experience: Groves made 11-of-18 shots from the floor, including 5-of-11 3-point attempts, to finishe with a career-high 35 points in Eastern’s 93-84 loss to 12th-ranked and third-seeded Kansas on March 20, 2021, in the NCAA Tournament. He also sank 8-of-9 free throws and had five rebounds and three blocked shots. Tanner and his younger brother, Jacob combined for all of Eastern’s points in a game-opening 9-0 run to start the game, and ended up with 16 apiece at halftime and combining for 58 in the game. The Groves Bros combined for 19-of-29 shooting from the field, 9-of-16 from the 3-point stripe and 11-of-12 from the free throw line. Jacob Groves, a sophomore, had a career-high 23 points and equaled his high with nine rebounds.
Big Sky Tournament Experience: Groves turned his regular season MVP into a tournament MVP honor as well, and he brought his brother along for the ride. The elder Groves was selected as the MVP of the Big Sky Conference Championship in Boise, Idaho, while sophomore Jacob Groves also earned All-Tournament accolades. And it only seemed appropriate for the brothers to headline the tournament since the team hotel and tournament headquarters in Boise was the Grove Hotel. It was the 12th time both MVP awards were won by the same person in the same season in the 42 years both awards have been presented. Tanner is the first since 2014 when Davion Berry from Weber State won both. Tanner nearly averaged a double-double with averages of 15.7 points and 9.7 rebounds, and had four blocked shots and five assists while shooting at a 48 percent clip. Jacob averaged 13.0 points and 3.3 rebounds, and sank 77.3 percent of his attempts (17-of-22). They combined for 18 points and 14 rebounds in Eastern’s 66-60 quarterfinal win over Northern Arizona, then combined for 39, eight and five assists in a 78-50 romp over Montana. In a 65-55 championship game victory over Montana State, they combined for 29 points and 17 rebounds as Jacob led EWU in scoring with 15 and Tanner had a double-double of 14 points and 14 boards. Tanner also had a double-double versus the Lumberjacks.
2020-21 Honors: Selected to the Winter Big Sky Conference All-Academic Team for the third-straight year. Groves had a stellar 2020-21 men’s basketball season, and was rewarded as the Big Sky Conference MVP after watching teammate and fellow post player Mason Peatling earn the honor a year previously. Groves was a first team All-Big Sky selection, joining junior Kim Aiken Jr. on that squad as EWU was the lone league school to have two players on the first team. Big Sky Conference coaches selected the honors, and continued a recent trend within the Eagle Basketball program. Groves became the fourth MVP in the last five years, joining Peatling, Bogdan Bliznyuk (2018) and Jacob Wiley (2017) in earning the honor, and EWU now has a total of six in school history. Groves previously was honored on several other occasions during the 2020-21 season. Most recently, on March 16, he was selected to the prestigious National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 6 first team. On Jan. 26, he was selected on the mid-season watch list for the 2020-21 Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award. He is one of 40 players listed as a candidate for the award, which is presented annually to the top mid-major player in NCAA Division I college basketball. Groves was rewarded Dec. 31 by being selected to the HoopsHD.com mid-season All-Big Sky Conference team. Twice he earned Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors – the first honor coming on Dec. 21 and the second on Feb. 1 after registering a double-double with 23 points and a career-high 15 rebounds in a win over Sacramento State one day earlier. He received the same honor the same weeks from College Sports Madness, and was also honored by CSM on Feb. 15 after averaging 21.0 points and 7.5 rebounds in a road sweep over Montana State. Included was a double-double of 26 points (equaling his career high) and 12 rebounds. He sank 68.2 percent of his field goal attempts and 3-of-5 3-point shots (37.5 percent), and all nine of his free throws. He had 15 rebounds for the weekend.
2020-21 Statistics: Groves finished the year ranked tied for second in the Big Sky Conference in rebounding (8.0 per game, just behind teammate Kim Aiken Jr. at 8.5) and field goal percentage (.560 to rank 33rd in NCAA Division I). He was also fourth in scoring (17.2) and sixth in blocked shots (1.1). In Big Sky games only, he finished first in field goal percentage (.586), fourth in scoring (17.9), fifth in rebounding (7.4), eighth in free throw percentage (.843) and 11th in blocked shots (0.7). He helped Eastern break the all-time school record for accuracy from the free throw line, a mark of 79.1 percent to break the previous record of 77.9 percent in 1979-80 (EWU’s DI record of 77.0 percent came in 2016-17). The Eagles also set a single game free throw percentage record in a 93-77 victory at Montana State (2/11/21) when Groves made all nine of his attempts. Eastern made its first 25 free throws and finished 27-of-28 from the free throw line for a school-record .964 percentage to break the previous record of.952 set twice previously (20-of-21). Groves registered a pair of double-doubles in EWU's split against Northern Colorado, with the Eagles falling 78-76 in the first game on Jan. 21 and winning the second 82-76 two days later. In the second meeting with UNC, he missed his first free throw of the game, snapping his streak of 27 made free throws in a row dating back to making his last seven at Northern Arizona (12/19/20). He made 8-of-14 to start the year, but went on a 33-of-36 tear (91.7 percent). In December, Groves sank 82 percent of the shots he took in a pair of games for the Eagles, and for his efforts he was selected Dec. 21 as the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week. He earned the same honor from College Sports Madness. Groves averaged a double-double as he equaled, then broke, his career-high in scoring in two games – a narrow 80-75 loss at Saint Mary’s (12/15/20) and then an 80-64 win at Northern Arizona (12/19/20) to open the league season. In the two games combined, Groves averaged 21.5 points and 10.0 rebounds, while also contributing four assists and two blocked shots. He sank 16-of-23 field goals for 69.6 percent and 11-of-13 free throws for 85 percent – a combined 27-of-33 for 81.8 percent. Groves hit 7-of-10 shots and 3-of-4 free throws at Saint Mary’s to finish with 17 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots. The 6-foot-9 junior had the fourth double-double of his career, hitting 9-of-13 field goals and 8-of-9 free throws to finish with 26 points and 13 rebounds at NAU. That eclipsed his previous high of 17 on three occasions, including twice in the 2020-21 season. His 13 boards equaled the 13 he had earlier in the season at Oregon (12/7/20) and he also had three assists. He scored 13 at Arizona (12/5/20), a week after equaling what was then his career high of 17 versus Washington State (11/28/20). He also had nine rebounds and three assists versus the Cougars as he equaled the career high for scoring he had as a sophomore with 17 points. He sank 6-of-16 shots in the first start of his career, and had eight rebounds, as he eclipsed his previous high of eight points as a freshman, and his eight rebounds was also a career high as well.
2019-20: Named to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team for the second-straight year. The team’s Most Inspirational Player for the second-straight season, Groves came off the bench to average 5.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.6 blocks. He scored a career-high 17 points versus Multnomah on Dec. 13, including a rebound dunk that was the No. 1 play by ESPN’s Sportscenter that night and had 2 1/2 million views. He came off the bench to score 16 versus Montana State on Feb. 8, hitting 4-of-5 3-pointers and 6-of-8 overall. He had 11 points in his first game against Montaan State, hitting all four of his shots and adding four rebounds and three blocks. Thus, in two games versus the Bobcats, he made 10-of-12 shots (5-of-6 on 3-pointers) and averaged 13.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks.
2018-19: Groves made his Eagle debut versus Syracuse (11/6/18) and finished with four points and four rebounds. He made the first starts of his career against Southern Utah (2/2/19) and Northern Arizona (2/4/19) as an injury replacement for Mason Peatling. Groves had his first career double-double against NAU, finishing with 13 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots while making 6-of-10 shots from the field. His previous high for points was six at Oregon (11/9/18) , his previous high for boards was six versus Corban (12/21/18) and his previous high for blocks was one on five occasions. He scored 14 in an 82-57 win over Idaho (2/18/19) for his other double-figure scoring game. He was EWU's leading rebounder once, and also led in blocked shots on eight occasions.
2017-18: Redshirted.
HS: Graduated from Shadle Park High School in 2017. As a senior, Groves earned All-State honors when he was picked to play in the WIBCA All-State Game on March 18, 2017, in Mountlake Terrace, Wash. He was a first team All-Greater Spokane League selection, including players at both the 4A and 3A levels. He averaged 18.2 points and 9.5 rebounds per game as a senior, as well as 1.9 assists, 1.8 blocked shots and nearly a steal. He made 62 percent of his shots from the field, including 10-of-26 3-point attempts for 38 percent, and shot at a 74 percent clip from the free throw line (88-of-121). The Highlanders finished 19-6 overall and 14-4 in the GSL, and advanced to the regional round of the State 3A Playoffs. As a junior, Groves was the Greater Spokane League MVP when he averaged 16.0 points, 11 rebounds, 1.5 blocked shots and 1.5 assists per game. He led Shadle Park to a 16-7 record in his junior season, with the season ending with a loss to Kennedy Catholic in the regional playoffs of the State 3A Tournament. He had 11 points and 22 rebounds before fouling out in the 40-32 setback. He scored 17 points and finished with 11 rebounds in a 70-56 district title victory over Rogers. He was a four-year letterwinner and twice the team’s MVP, and was coached at Shadle Park by EWU graduate Tim Gaebe. An honor roll student, he was also ASB Vice President at Shadle Park and a member of the school’s National Honor Society. He was the school’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2016-17.
Personal: Majoring in interdisciplinary studies at Eastern, and has a 3.93 grade point average at EWU through winter quarter 2021. Born May 22, 1999, in Spokane, Wash. Parents are Randy and Tara Groves. His brother, Jacob Groves, is on EWU’s roster as a true freshman after graduating from Shadle Park HS in 2019. Jacob is averaging 2.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in the 24 games he has played – the first two in victories against High Point and Belmont. He had his high game with eight points versus Multnomah. Tanner and Jacob also have another brother named Dylynn. Randy played basketball at Shadle Park HS and Community Colleges of Spokane, and Tara (formerly Tara Flugel) still owns the Whitworth scoring record of 2,040 points and is in the school’s Hall of Fame. She’s formerly from Colville, Wash.
| SEASON |
GP-GS |
MIN/AVG |
FG-FGA |
FG% |
3FG-FGA |
3FG% |
FT-FTA |
FT% |
OFF |
DEF |
TOT |
AVG |
PF-FO |
AST |
TO |
BLK |
STL |
PTS |
AVG |
| 2018-19 |
28-2 |
233/8.3 |
30-72 |
.417 |
5-13 |
.385 |
13-20 |
.650 |
21 |
39 |
60 |
2.1 |
57-1 |
7 |
22 |
18 |
2 |
78 |
2.8 |
| 2019-20 |
31-1 |
314/10.1 |
69-116 |
.595 |
14-34 |
.412 |
14-22 |
.636 |
30 |
64 |
94 |
3.0 |
73-2 |
11 |
18 |
18 |
3 |
166 |
5.4 |
| 2020-21 |
24-24 |
650/27.1 |
153-273 |
.560 |
22-63 |
.349 |
84-108 |
.778 |
32 |
159 |
191 |
8.0 |
81-4 |
32 |
45 |
26 |
6 |
412 |
17.2 |
| TOTAL |
83-27 |
1197/14.4 |
252-461 |
.547 |
41-110 |
.373 |
111-150 |
.740 |
83 |
262 |
345 |
4.2 |
211-7 |
50 |
85 |
62 |
11 |
656 |
7.9 |
Single Game Highs
Points - 35 vs Kansas 03/20/21
Rebounds - 15 vs Sacramento St. 01/31/21
Assists - 3 6 times
Steals - 3 at Montana 02/20/21
Blocks - 4 vs Northern Ariz. 02/04/19
FG Made - 11 vs Kansas 03/20/21
FG Attempts - 18 vs Kansas 03/20/21
3FG Made - 5 vs Kansas 03/20/21
3FG Attempts - 11 vs Kansas 03/20/21
FT Made - 9 vs Southern Utah 01/14/21, at Montana St. 02/11/21
FT Attempts - 9 4 times
