CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — It’s been a while since Illini fans have heard from Illinois head coach Brad Underwood, but they’ll be encouraged by his recent outlook for next season.
Underwood joined CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein on the “Inside College Basketball Now” podcast last week, where he dissected the Illini’s March Madness run and gave a blueprint on what Illinois might look like this upcoming season.
Dissecting the run
When asked if the overtime loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals
gave the Illini a sense of freshness that helped them power through March, Underwood noted that while it may have been a factor, it wasn’t the primary reason.
“I think there’s a little bit of that. I’m not gonna say that’s the reason … I think it’s more that we got out of the Big Ten. We saw some different opponents, we were able to gain a little confidence. I don’t think we were necessarily tired, fatigued, fresh, whatever. I don’t think that’s the biggest issue,” Underwood said. “We played well against Wisconsin. They were just better that day.”
After taking down Penn and VCU in the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament, Underwood admitted that the load of momentum that Illinois carried into Houston helped them run past the Cougars quite decisively.
“We were definitely ready to play. We had heard enough about the ‘Houston in Houston,’” Underwood said. “We knew what we were in for with the physicality with that mindset. I thought we were an extremely physical team, so we matched up.”
A round later in the Elite Eight, Underwood shared the raw reality of his mindset before facing Iowa. Although Illinois had already beaten Iowa in Iowa City earlier in the season, Underwood noted that the red-hot Hawkeyes were coming off upsets over Florida and Nebraska. Rothstein asked him if that was the most pressure he’d ever felt in his head coaching career, and Underwood gave a clear answer:
“No question,” Underwood said. “Is there an emotional letdown gonna happen? You say ‘Well, it’s the Elite Eight, it shouldn’t.’ Then Bennett [Stirtz] opens the game on a heater and is just making everything. And to be honest, we didn’t play great. We just happened to dominate the glass.”
After falling to Uconn, Underwood’s been doing his best to stay positive and keep his sights on the future. He hasn’t even watched a replay of the emotional Final Four loss.
“I’m very much a forward thinker. So I haven’t watched the Uconn game yet,” Underwood said. “I did watch the Iowa game. I’ll probably wait until school starts when I’m in a bad mood someday and wanna be in a worse mood. But I think it’s never about anything but a national championship for me.”
New season, clean slate
Despite all the returning veterans, Underwood made it perfectly clear that this is a new Illinois team with a clean slate. That mindset has resulted in tactical changes in practice rather than relying on last season’s blueprint.
“I won’t bring up last year with our team. This year’s got a new identity, new pieces, new parts,” Underwood said. “We’ve made some significant changes in scheme and some things we’re doing. This summer has been a big summer of install for us.”
Those tactical changes also stem from the influx of newcomers who have already exceeded Underwood’s expectations. New additions Quentin Coleman and Stefan Vaaks are projected to start for Illinois, and Underwood touched on how seamless their adaptation has been. But he didn’t forget to highlight the other freshmen that have stood out this offseason.
“We’ve got a group of freshmen that I’ve been extremely pleased with. Usually in the summer you feel like there’s a couple guys that maybe can’t help you right away. I don’t feel that,” Underwood said. “I’ve been very impressed with Ethan Brown … 6-foot-4, great athlete, can really shoot it. Landon Davis has been a very big surprise, a guy that’s 6-foot-9 got a 7-foot-2 wingspan, great athlete, but just turned into a much better shooter from 3 than I anticipated.”
Illinois has renewed its emphasis on doing work in the weight room with strength and conditioning coach Adam Fletcher, not just for the freshmen but for everyone, and there’s proof:
“Zvonimir is 266 pounds now. He came in at 222,” Underwood said. “Tomi’s about 270, but he looks completely different and he’s moving much better. Mirk’s 250, but he stayed home and didn’t play with his Montenegro national team and his body just looks better. He looks like a good athlete.”
For Mirkovic, Underwood expects the point-forward to take more initiative with the ball in his hands post-Wagler and continue to thrive along the perimeter with his ball-handling, 3-point shooting and playmaking skills.
Andrej Stojakovic’s name didn’t come up regarding the weight room, but Underwood did predict a “huge” jump for the senior, expecting major improvements in his rebounding and defending.
“I think his confidence of being here, it’s not new anymore, he’s a veteran, the experience of winning, I think as a two-way player, has a chance to be an outstanding defender,” Underwood said. “I think he’ll be a much-improved rebounder, just because I screamed at him all year about it.”
Underwood also expects improvement from the rest of the returners, but specifically highlighted sophomore big man Jason Jakstys, who Illini fans didn’t get to see much of last season due to a blood clot he suffered early in the year. Underwood mentioned that he “was gonna play a lot last year” and is looking forward to utilizing his elite defending, rebounding and shot blocking.
Hardening for March
Regarding the Illini’s stacked non-conference schedule, Underwood noted that facing teams like North Carolina, Duke and Uconn speaks volumes about the program, prepares the squad for basketball in March and is “the way it should be.”
“It’s about hardening you, toughening you up, then when you get to the tournament, it just becomes ‘okay we’ve got another good opponent, we’ve seen that done that before,’” Underwood said. He doesn’t expect to win them all, but knows that it’ll help the Illini grow no matter the outcome.
Rothstein posed the question to Underwood if he thinks about returning to the Final Four this year, and he didn’t hesitate: “To go try to do it again, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about it a lot,” Underwood said.
To be able to do it though, Underwood emphasized that his Illini need to learn to handle the chatter around the group, build chemistry, keep up their competitive spirit and execute within the margins. If they can do that, Illinois fans will be in for another special season.
