Brad Underwood's intense ways invite fan scrutiny, but his Illinois players see a method in the madness

When Brad Underwood was introduced as Illinois men’s basketball coach seven years ago in Champaign, the idea of a national title seemed far-fetched.

The John Groce era was a disaster and Underwood had never coached a team past the second round of the NCAA Tournament in three attempts at Stephen F. Austin and one year at Oklahoma State.

“I dream big,” Underwood said that day in 2017. “Winning a national championship is something that can happen here.”

Underwood turned the program around in its third season in 2020, going 21-10, but the NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the pandemic. Early tournament exits the last three seasons took their toll, and a growing reputation as a good recruiter who couldn’t coach in March made Underwood suspect to a sizable number of Illini fans.

Underwood’s animated personality on the bench — shouting at players and waving his arms like a graduate of the Bobby Knight School of Coaching through Intimidation — made him an easy target after losses. He sometimes lambasted his players’ effort after games, including an epic rant following a loss to Penn State in December 2022 when he delivered a Bronx cheer during his postgame press conference and said: “The lack of leadership on this team is zero. It’s none. It’s inexcusable.”

Fast-forward to last Saturday’s second-round tournament win over Duquesne in Omaha, Neb., which ended the school’s 19-year drought since their last Sweet 16 appearance in 2005. A celebratory Underwood was seen blasting his players with a super-soaker squirt gun in the postgame locker room, like an overgrown kid on a sugar high.

“You’ve got to celebrate winning,” he said afterward. “That’s one thing I’ve always been big on and we did that today.”

The players were surprised by the sneak attack from Underwood and his staff, but enjoyed seeing their coach let his slicked-back hair down.

“Big moment,” junior forward Dain Dainja said. “The coaches came in here with their water guns and got us hyped a little bit. We were all so locked in, like ‘Next game.’ We love winning and definitely have to celebrate these moments.”

The win got Illinois over the hump, but a much bigger challenge awaits in Boston. The third-seeded Illini head into Thursday’s Sweet 16 game against No. 2 seed Iowa State as slight underdogs, and would likely be a bigger underdog Saturday if they meet top-seed UConn for a shot at the Final Four in Glendale, Ariz.

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