Brad Underwood waited 26 years for
a Division I job. Now in Year 39, he has Illinois in Final Four
[April 01, 2026]
By KRISTIE RIEKEN
Illinois’ Brad Underwood coached for 26 years before landing his
first Division I head coaching job.
Now in Year 39, the well-traveled 62-year-old is finally heading to
the Final Four, where the Fighting Illini meet UConn on Saturday.
He’s doing it in what he’s long referred to as his dream job. In
2013 while in that first DI head coaching job at Stephen F. Austin,
he told his administrative assistant about his ambition to coach the
Fighting Illini one day. And she wrote it down.
When he was named Illinois coach in 2017, she presented him with
that meaningful piece of paper containing his intention to lead this
team.
In the place he always wanted to be, Underwood has the Fighting
Illini in the Final Four for the first time since 2005, trying to
bring home a first national title.
“I’ve been fortunate to be around great mentors, great coaches,” he
said. “I just bided my time, found a group that’s magical. We’re
living the dream.”
Though he’s living the dream now, it came only after decades of
toiling in relative obscurity.
There were four years at Dodge City Community College starting in
1988 where he was not only the coach but the team’s bus driver for
road games. Then came 10 years as an assistant for Jim Kerwin at
Western Illinois, where he was “not making very much money and
raising three kids and literally being gone five days a week.”
The next stop was Daytona Beach Community College from 2003-06,
which also was not the most glamorous job but had a nice perk.
“It was an incredible place to help raise our kids, going to the
beach every weekend," he said. "And I loved coaching ball in junior
college.”
After that he worked as an assistant, first for Bob Huggins followed
by Frank Martin, at Kansas State from 2006-12. He followed Martin to
South Carolina, where he spent one season before landing at Stephen
F. Austin.
“I’ve been blessed along the way because I’ve worked for nothing but
winners for head coaches and people who allowed me to grow,”
Underwood said.
At Stephen F. Austin he was named Southland Conference coach of the
year in each of his three seasons. The Lumberjacks won the league
tournament to advance to the NCAA Tournament every year under him.
He spent one season at Oklahoma State, where he went 20-13 and led
the Cowboys to March Madness before landing his coveted job in 2017.
[to top of second column] |
Illinois coach Brad Underwood celebrates with players after an Elite
Eight game against Iowa in the NCAA college basketball tournament
Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
After three seasons building the team, he turned
the Fighting Illini into perennial NCAA Tournament contenders. This
is their sixth straight season in the tournament and the second time
in three years that they have advanced to the Sweet 16.
“It’s been maybe a different path than most, but one that I sure
wouldn’t — there’s not one step of it that I would give up,” he
said. “Because I’ve been beyond blessed to work for great people who
helped prepare me to get to these moments.”
His success this season comes after he began prioritizing recruiting
in Eastern Europe. The Illini have a roster that includes four
players from Eastern Europe and Andrej Stojakovic, who was born in
Greece but whose father is Serbian three-time NBA All-Star Peja
Stojakovic.
The squad is led by consensus second-team All-American point guard
Keaton Wagler. The freshman scored 25 points in a win over Iowa to
earn South Region tournament MVP and punch the Fighting Illini’s
ticket to the Final Four.
Wagler said he knew soon after meeting Underwood that Illinois was
the school for him.
“He’s super competitive and that’s what I like about him,” Wagler
said. “He hates to lose. I hate to lose. So, it just combined really
well. Just talking to him just throughout the whole recruiting
process, I knew that this was the place I wanted to be.”
Underwood got emotional as he was cutting down the net after the
victory over the Hawkeyes. So many years and all those stops brought
him right where he was supposed to be.
Now he’s just two wins away from bringing Illinois to heights never
seen before.
“You believe in something so much that it drives me every single day
to want to make it happen,” he said.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
